Still Fighting
by Cotix14
Summary: My name is Nike Midas. You might remember me as the victor of the 68th annual Hunger Games. That was 7 years ago. You would think that after 7 years I was able to forget about the games and move on, but I haven't, I'm still fighting every single day and I'm not going to stop until there are no Hunger Games anymore. Sequel to my story No Matter What!
1. Painful memories

**I just saw Resident Evil 5: Retribution, which means I'm entirely in the mood for writing! (If you like violent, bloody, zombie movies I recommend you to watch it, just excellent :D). I got a lot of reviews for the last chapter, I'm not going to write names, because I'm way too lazy to check all of them, but I read them and I really appreciate the support and the praises. Anyway, I hope you all like the first chapter of Still Fighting! And if you haven't read No Matter What, you can still understand this story, but it'll be better if you read it.**

**RunninOut: If you decide to create an account make sure to PM (private message) me :D.**

**Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own the Hunger Games, just own a few characters.**

**Painful memories:**

_She's running up to the huge guy from 4. She slashes her axe at the guy, but he dodges and hits her in the back with the hilt of his sword. She falls to the ground and the guy tries to thrust the sword on her chest, but she rolls over and kicks him in the legs. He stumbles backwards and she uses that moment to stand up. She attacks him, but he blocks and slashes his sword hitting her in the stomach opening a huge gash. She starts to bleed a lot, but that doesn't stop her. She picks up her axe and attacks him viciously over and over again. Finally she kicks him in the stomach so hard he falls down about 5 feet away, she throws her axe with an incredible precision and it lands on the guy's head breaking his skull and killing him instantly. She is breathing heavily and she smiles as they announce her winner of the 71__st__ annual Hunger Games, then she falls to the ground unconscious and I don't know if she'll ever wake up…_

''Johanna!''

I'm breathing heavily and I'm sweating like crazy even though it's April and it's freezing cold outside. I've had that dream like a million times since Johanna went to the games, 4 years ago, and it still terrifies me just like it did when it actually happened. But Johanna is safe, she's right beside me on the bed sleeping peacefully. I want to leave something very clear before you start asking questions. Johanna is here in my house only and exclusively for _sleeping._

Why is Johanna Mason sleeping in the same bed than me? Simple. The first time it happened was 3 years ago. Johanna woke me up in the middle of the night because she had a nightmare. I helped her through it and comforted her as best as I could. I asked her why she hadn't come to me before and she told me she used to go with her brother Alex when she had nightmares. I felt bad for asking, the Capitol tried to turn Johanna into a prostitute and when she refused they killed her brother and mother. They made it look like an accident, but both of us knew they wanted to kill them. After spending hours just talking we both fell asleep and we started going to each other's houses whenever either of us had a nightmare, it really helped. Sometimes.

Anyway, I can't sleep any longer after that dream so I stand up careful not to wake Johanna up and go to the bathroom. I wash my face and look at myself in the mirror. I've changed so much since I won the games, 7 years ago. To begin with now I'm 6 feet 1 and I look like an adult now. I'm still thin, but not you-can-see-my-bones thin, if you look at me, you can tell I work out and you can tell I'm stronger than most people. My hair is short and it's a total mess, like usual. I'm one of the most easily recognizable victors because of the scar. I have a scar right across my face, I'm the only victor with any kind of physical scars, because the venom that makes this scars incurable was only used in my games. I hate them, they're a constant reminder of my games and everything the Capitol has taken away from me. The Capitol… I hate it, I hate it more than I've ever hated anything. Thank God the rebellion will start soon and we'll be able to stop them from doing what they did to me to anybody else again. Funny, if the Capitol hadn't destroyed my life I probably wouldn't be part of the rebellion. The reminder of my dad's death is what pushed me to become a part of it in the first place.

_''Nike…'' she says ''Y-your dad… He's dead''_

_I feel like somebody had punched me on the nose and I'm angry, you would think I would be sad, but I'm extremely angry. ''No. No! __NO!'' I say and I sweep my hand across the kitchen counter knocking plates, cups, portraits with my hands. It all breaks, but it doesn't makes me feel any better. I press my back against the wall and I slide down until I'm sitting on the floor. I hold my head with my hands as tears start streaming down my face, anger replaced by sadness. Johanna sits down beside me and she puts her hand on my shoulder. I almost tackle her with a hug and cry on her shoulder. She lets me and doesn't say anything, she only strokes my back until I calm down._

''_H-how d-did it happened?'' I ask her_

_She tells me, the day Dante died and I won the games my dad was asked to do a delivery in the Capitol. He was happy, he thought he may be able to see me while he was in the Capitol. Then it happened, when he was on the train. There was a fire, the fire mixed with the gasoline in the internal motors and there was an explosion. So my father died burned alive, just like my mom did. _

_The day after there's a memorial service for him. It is supposed to be a small thing, but almost every person in the district shows up. I don't know all of them, and been honest it would've been better if there hadn't been so many people. Most of them just wanted to meet me, less than half of them was there because of my dad. Eventually they all leave, but Johanna stays with me until it's way past night time and I'm extremely grateful for her company._

That was only the beginning. Douglas, my boss and friend, died just a few months after, killed by peacekeepers supposedly for murder, about a year afterwards my friends from school and co workers died in all kinds of accidents. At first I didn't realize all those deaths were the capitol doing, it became clear when I was 17 and Johanna was reaped. The Capitol was trying to kill everyone I cared about, they didn't expect Johanna to come back alive though.

All those memories are extremely painful and I just can't take it. I go downstairs to the kitchen and pour myself a glass of vodka. I admit it, I've been drunk quite a few times, I started drinking when Johanna went to her games, seeing her getting hurt was too much for me to take. But I'm trying to control it though, but sometimes I just need to drink.

''Isn't it a little too early to be drinking, Scarface?'' Johanna says behind me.

I turn around to face her, Johanna changed a lot too. All her childish features are gone and she looks like a grown woman, I'm about 6 inches taller than her, she's thin and her brown hair is a little longer than it was when we were children. She's still beautiful. Been honest, I've been having a huge crush on her ever since I won my games, I doubt I'll ever do anything about it, but it makes it kind of difficult for me to be with her without staring at her ''It's not too early, Jo. It's almost noon''

''Seriously?!'' she says ''I overslept again?! Do you drug me when I'm here or something?''

I laugh ''Nah, you're just lazy all by yourself''

She punches my arm playfully and takes my glass and drinks what's left of the vodka. ''Wasn't it too early to drink?''

''Yeah, well you prove me wrong'' she says ''Besides tonight they announce what the quarter quell will be!''

''Oh joy. I forgot about that'' I say kind of wanting to get another glass of vodka, or maybe whiskey? I'm such an alcoholic ''Today we'll see from what horrible situation we have to defend some kids of!''

''Yeah…'' she says ''Do you mind if I watch the announcement alone?''

I could understand her. Johanna didn't show it, but she really cares about our tributes and it killed her when last year both of our tributes, 2 poor kids who worked in the woods, died in the bloodbath. ''No, don't worry I don't mind'' I say.

''You're great, Nikey'' she says ''Just don't drink a lot while I'm not here''

''Fine, but you can't drink either''

''But…''

''No, if I don't drink you don't drink either'' I say ''And don't call me Nikey''

''Fine…'' she says ''And I call you whatever I want, Scarface''

Johanna is always like that, it'll surprise me if she ever does everything I ask her. We spend most of the day together, working in the woods, and talking about the rebellion. The plan is pretty cool, we are going to use the quarter quell as our distraction, when everybody is watching the games we will escape in a hovercraft from district 13, taking the tributes we can from the arena. In district 13 we are going to keep planning and helping the uprising all over Panem, and then, after we have control of the districts we take the Capitol and execute President Snow. That's basically it, there are plenty of more things and details that I won't talk about, but it's almost sure that this rebellion won't fail, not as long as the people we need cooperate.

At 7 thirty I'm back in my house alone, waiting for the announcement of what will happen in the quarter quell and what we'll have to expect. When the program finally starts they don't show us what'll happen on the quell immediately, they start with Caesar talking with the stylist from 12, Cinna. I've met Cinna a few times, he's a great guy and he's helping in the rebellion, trying to turn Katniss into a symbol. They talk for a while and then there are shoots of Katniss wearing a wedding dress. Oh, right… I completely forgot the Capitol wanted to marry Peeta and Katniss. They're idiots if you ask me, it was clear Katniss and Peeta weren't in love, maybe they cared for each other, but love? No. Still they did a good job, the Capitol bought it and the districts now consider Katniss the head of the rebellion, what we call The Mockingjay. I gotta say, I admire Katniss, she was able to keep 2 tributes alive, something I tried during my games, but wasn't successful.

I'm taken out of my trance when President Snow makes his appearance. He walks up the stage followed by a little boy in a white suit, and the boy is carrying a wooden box. President Snow proceeds to tell us everything there is to know about the games, why they were created, Treaty of Treason and why we celebrate the Quell. Then he tells us what happened in each quell.

''On the twenty fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that their children were dying because of their choice to initiate violence, every district was made to hold an election and vote on the tributes who would represent it'' Elections? That must've been horrible, been chosen by your district to die…

''On the fiftieth anniversary'' Snow continues ''as a reminder that two rebels died for each Capitol citizen, every district was required to send twice as many tributes'' I saw recaps of those games, Haymitch won those games. Haymitch is the mentor for district 12, I know him, I worked with him a few times when our tributes allied and he's also a major part in the rebellion, most of all because he mentored Katniss and Peeta.

'' And now we honor our third quarter quell'' The kid steps up the podium and slowly opens the lid of the box he's carrying. Snow pulls out an envelope with the number 75 clearly marked on it. He opens the envelope and pulls a small square of paper. He reads without hesitation '' On the seventy-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that even the strongest among them cannot overcome the power of the Capitol, the male and female tributes will be reaped from their existing pool of victors''

I'm out of the house before I even register what had happened. It's raining and only a second after I stepped out I'm dripping wet, but I don't care. I don't care that I might be going back to the arena, I don't care that this quell might ruin the rebellion. The only thing I care about is that there's only one female victor in district 7 still alive and she has to go to the games.

Johanna is going back to the arena, and it's my fault.

**I hope you all like this chapter even though it was a little slow going, but it was kind of a way of telling all of you what happened during all those 7 years. Please read and review! Even if it's just one word it'll be enough! Also, I just started school so I might not be able to update as many times as I would like, still I'll try to update once a week.**


	2. A promise I can't keep

**Thanks to nb1998, FireBreadandSnares, Emmileeblue and cutiemarie-chan for reviewing! I hope you all like this chapter :D. **

**A promise I can't keep:**

I'm about to knock on Johanna's door, but she opens it before I get the chance. She's holding an umbrella so I'm guessing she was going to my house, or to buy alcohol. Both are equally possible.

''You're not going back to the arena'' I say as I walk in.

''Nike, you're dripping wet!'' she says not paying any attention to what I'm saying. ''You're going to get sick''

''I don't care. You're not going back into the games!''

''At least let me give you a towel'' She says again, not paying any attention.

''Johanna!'' I say a little harshly taking her by the shoulders so she looks at me ''You can't go back to the arena!''

''Nike, I have to.'' She says. She sounds so calm and relaxed… It bugs me ''It's not like I have a choice''

''Yes, you do!'' I say trying to find a way to get her out of the games ''W-we could…could… Run off again, like when we were younger and live in the woods!''

''What?'' she says with a slight laugh ''We were like 10 when that happened! And you remembered how that turned out…''

''I don't care! I don't mind saving your life over and over again, I don't mind as long as you don't have to face all that again!''

''Nike, I'm not running off with you again!''

''Then we'll hide you! Fake you're on death's door, anything!'' I say shaking her shoulders.

''I'll have to go to the arena, Nike, there's nothing we can do about it''

''Then I'll volunteer'' I say.

''You can't volunteer for me'' she says smiling.

''No, but I can volunteer for whoever is chosen so that I can be with you in the arena''

''No'' she says, looking serious all of a sudden instead of relaxed like before.

''I will go, I need to help you out, you can't be there all by yourself. Not again''

''No, Nike'' she says ''I can't let you go just because of me''

''Why not? You're going because of me''

''What? How am I going because of you? I'm going because the Capitol is filled with douche bags''

''I agree, the Capitol _is_ filled with douche bags, but you went into the games because of my stupidity'' What I'm saying is something I've been thinking about for a very long time, but I never said aloud to anyone ''If I hadn't attempted to save Dante, or if I hadn't mention you and my dad and Douglas or if I hadn't told them how much you mean to me, or if I had just died in that fucking arena then you might've never gone to the games, and maybe my dad and Douglas would still be alive…''

I sit down on one of the kitchen chairs after I say that and look at my hands. Ever since my dad was killed in that stupid accident/murder, I've been regretting that day, the day I tried to save Dante's life on that cliff. It's weird, I regret it, but it is one of the only things about my games that I don't feel bad about. It was the right thing to do, but it cost me so much… So many people, so may lives, all because I said something I shouldn't have said. Johanna sits down beside me and she puts a towel around my shoulders, I hadn't even noticed how cold I felt.

''I don't blame you'' she says ''I have never even thought about blaming you, I feel like I would've gone into the games anyway, I don't think I've ever had a choice. But you do have a choice, if somebody else is chosen you don't have to take their place, you can mentor me, help me from afar, besides I doubt our _plan_ will be stopped because of this, we can still meet, in the other district''

''I can't let you go alone…'' I whisper almost to myself.

''You'll have to!'' she says ''In fact, promise. Promise you won't volunteer, promise you won't go into the arena unless you're actually reaped''

I look at her beautiful brown eyes and I know she won't ever let me go with her, she'll never let me risk my life like that, it looks like I'll have to, I'll have to promise ''Fine,'' I say ''I promise. I promise I won't volunteer''

''Thank you, Nike'' she says taking my hand and giving it a light squeeze.

''But I'll train you''

''You what?''

''I'll train you, I'll teach you how to use a sword, how to improve hand to hand combat, how to run through woods quietly and quickly, how to hunt, how to light a fire'' I say ''I never stopped training after my games for a reason, you'll need all the help you can get and I'm going to teach you everything I know and you're going to do everything I tell you!''

''Ugh, I don't like you when you get all serious and bossy…'' she says rolling her eyes. Still I stare at her waiting for an answer ''Fine'' she says ''I'll let you train me''

''Thanks''

''And really, I thought you never stopped training because you wanted to pick up chicks''' she says and I stare at her with my best 'Are you freaking kidding me?' face. She just laughs.

''I'll go see Blight'' I say after a moment of silence ''I'm worried he might've drowned in alcohol after the announcement''

''There's a pretty big chance of that happening…'' she says walking with me to the door. I'm about to leave when she takes my arm and says ''But… Could you, like, come here again when you're done? Spent the night?''. She sounded shy, which is weird in Johanna, I guess she doesn't want me to think she's nervous, which I know she is.

''Of course'' I say giving her a reassuring smile ''I'll come here in about an hour ''

I walk slowly to Blight's house, thinking about Johanna, and the promise I made. I know she just doesn't want me to get hurt and to risk my life because of her, but I can't stop thinking about her games, about how much it hurt whenever something bad happened to her, it even hurt to hear her crazy ideas like her strategy for the games…

_It is reaping day. Blight and I are sitting in the stools on the stage waiting for the reaping to start. Nova walks up to the middle of the stage and starts her speech. I really don't listen to that part; ever since I won I only care about the female reaping and about Johanna. Finally she finishes her speech and she goes to the big glass ball with all the female names slips. I'm having a very bad feeling and I don't know why. It feels like it's taking Nova forever to read the damn name she finally says ''Johanna Mason!''._

_I feel even worse than when my own name was called. I can't describe the pain I'm feeling. The crowd gasps, because they know Johanna, they know she's my closest friend. Johanna does the most un-Johanna thing ever. She starts to cry and she cries all the way up the stage, sobbing and everything. ''What the hell are you doing?!'' I want to tell her. Johanna doesn't cry, ever, what's going through her mind? I don't even pay attention to who the male tribute is. I'm still trying to figure out what Johanna is doing, I'm already thinking about strategies, what weapon she should use, how to get sponsors even with her crying in the reaping._

_They take Johanna and the other kid to the justice building. I go after them and I wait. The Peacekeepers take Alex and Johanna's mom out of the little room claiming times over. Alex is crying. I look at him in the eye and say with the most serious tone I have ''I will bring her back, Alex, I swear''_

''_I wanna see Johanna Mason'' I tell the Peacekeeper in the front desk._

''_Sorry, Mr. Midas, I can't allow a mentor to see a tribute at this time''_

''_I don't care, now let me in!''_

''_Sir, there's nothing I can…'' he tries to say._

''_You can open the fucking door and let me talk with my tribute!''_

_The Peacekeepers look at each other and shrug. ''Only 5 minutes'' he says opening the door for me._

_Johanna is in there and she looks up surprised when I walk in. Her eyes are red and puffy and I still don't understand why she is crying so much. I go up to her and hug her tightly for a moment. When we break apart I take her by the shoulders and look at her in the eye ''Why the hell are you crying?'' I ask her very seriously._

''_Oh, I'm not crying'' she says waving her hand dismissively ''I'm acting, did it look believable?''_

''_What the-? Why are you fake crying?''_

''_That'll be my angle for the games'' she explains like it's the simplest thing ever._

''_What?!'' I say loudly ''Johanna you can't do that! What kind of angle is that? You won't get any sponsors, sponsors are the difference between life and death!''_

''_They might be, but a sword through the chest can also be the difference between life and death'' she says ''I'll act like a weakling, get a low score on the training, maybe cry in the interview, and then during the games I'll show everybody what I can do. And I don't worry about sponsors, I'm your best friend, right? There are a lot of Nike fans out there that are gonna want to keep me alive''_

''_Jo, that's crazy…''_

''_I know it'll work'' she says ''Trust me''_

I decided to trust her back then, and it work. But this is a totally different situation is not like a strategy for the arena, is whether or not I'll be there to help her, to protect her and to make sure nothing happens. I care too much about Johanna to just let her go alone, facing all the dangers that this new arena will have. I make a decision, I'm gonna break my promise. Finally I arrive to Blight's door and I knock on it. He opens it about 5 minutes later. Blight looks significantly older than before, and his state is worse too, he drinks more and he started taking some morphing. Still he is a little less insane than most victors.

''Blondie!'' he says with a voice tone that clearly marks his drunk state ''Come in! Come in, have a drink!''

''Hey, Blight'' I say ''Do you have any scotch?''

''Sure, sure, come with me''

We both sit down on his kitchen table and drink for a while as he talks to me. ''Oh, Blondie'' he starts to say ''This Quarter Quell might be the end of me! If I have to go back, there's a huge chance of me dying! I'm not what I used to be, you know. Even with the rebe- I mean plan, I won't leave! I gotta say is a little scary''

''And Johanna! I don't want her to go! Much less with me! A drunken, fat, old man! I'll be just another problem for her…'' he finishes his drink and leans on me ''You smell weird.'' He says, drunk Blight is weird as hell…

''Yeah'' I say pushing him away a little ''Hear me out Blight, you won't have to go the arena''

''Really? Why?''

''I'll go, I'll volunteer''

''No, no, no, no'' he says very quickly ''I don't want you there again''

''I don't want to go either, but I need to protect Johanna, I can't let her go alone'' I say ''And I need you to be my mentor again''

''I see'' he says and he stays quiet for a pretty long time ''Alright, I'll do it, I'll mentor you and Johanna''

''Thanks, Blight'' I say feeling slightly relieved ''Just don't say a word from this to Johanna, alright?''

''Yeah, yeah''

That night I'm staying in Johanna's house, just like I said I would. It's past midnight and Johanna is already asleep, but I can't stop thinking about my promise. Johanna will be pissed when I volunteer, she'll probably hate me, but it's for the best, still I promised and I've never broken a promise in my life. I sigh, never make a promise you can't keep.

**I don't know why, but I really like writing this chapter… I was, I don't know, easy and entertaining, to write at least. I hope you guys feel the same way when you read it! Please review when you're done reading, even if it's just one word or if it's a criticism I accept everything! I'll update next Saturday, so until then :D.**


	3. Games practice

**Thanks to nb1998, FireBreadandSnares, Emmileeblue and hungergamesfreaklover for reviewing! I'm sorry if this too a little onger than usual, but here it is, chapter 3 of Still Fighting! Also thanks to my amazing new beta, kattomas for correcting this and giving me some awesome advice :)!**

**Games Practice**

I'm deep into the woods, using all my senses to figure out where Johanna is so I can beat her and finally end this thing. It's been a couple months since they announced the Quarter Quell, and just like I said I would, I've been training Johanna every day since then. It's weird - Johanna kept her promise without any complaints, letting me train her and following every single order I gave her, which makes me feel like a douche, because I'm not keeping my part of the deal.

We're only a few days away from the reaping, and I spent a lot of time thinking about what could be her last test, for lack of a better word, before the Games. Blight came up with the idea - a reenactment of the Games. That's why I'm in the woods trying to find her. I'm supposed to be a Career, like Brutus or Gloss, desperate to kill Johanna. Johanna has to stay hidden from me as long as possible, and when I find her she has to fight me with every intention of beating me. Sadly for me, over the past months I've taught her too well, and she's now extremely sneaky and quiet. Her fighting has improved a lot in every aspect. As a result of that, I've been trying to find her for the past three hours with no luck.

I hear a noise to my right. I run there, but I see nothing. I'm about to give up and walk off in a random direction when I see Johanna's first mistake in three hours, a footprint in the snow. Thank God! Johanna has been covering her tracks like an expert, and the fact that she didn't erase this one shows me two things: either she forgot, or she's bored and wants to end this once and for all. For the sake of my own self-esteem, I hope it's the first one.

Using the footprint as a guide, I try to remember exactly where the sound came from. I can just make out her hair as she runs quickly through the forest. "I got you!" I shout as I follow her. One aspect about being the Career in this situation that I've come to appreciate is that I can be as loud as I want, so I don't have to worry about where I step or how lightly I run, which makes me much faster than Johanna.

I enter the little clearing where Johanna and I met, and I see Johanna starting to climb a tree. Now it all makes sense - in the past, whenever I got close to Johanna, she would climb a tree, and since I didn't have the intelligence to actually look up I never noticed. I start to climb up behind her, wincing. I've gotten better with this climbing thing, but Johanna is still faster and lighter than me. I'm able to get pretty close to her though, and I take hold of her ankle. She starts to kick me, putting significant amount of force into each hit, but I don't let go, although I'm losing my grip on the branches. She kicks me again, even harder, and one of my feet slips, causing me to tumble down and drag Johanna with me. I take most of the hit, while Johanna lands on top of me.

Johanna is on her feet before me, and she takes out her knife. I do the same. We are both armed with only a knife, because that's what she'll most likely find in the arena. She lunges at me quickly and slashes at me with her blade so that it's barely half an inch away from adding another scar to my face. Pushing towards me again, she catches me by surprise, giving me almost no time to block.

I think Johanna would've made a better Career than me.

I duck when she tries to cut my throat again, and I take advantage of the situation, utilizing a trick I've known for a while. The trick itself is very simple, and I'm in the ideal position for it. Getting close to Johanna, I put my arm around her knees and shove.

As I expected, Johanna falls down, and I'm about to end this and "kill" her by thrusting my knife into her chest, but she rolls over and knocks me down. We start rolling down a small hill nearby. As I fall into a tree with a groan, I realize that I'm the one who hit the most rocks on the way down. I'm pretty sure she's going to kick me, so I stand up as fast as I can.

With a blur, Johanna lunges herself at me, and I catch both of her wrists and spin her around, knocking her against the tree we crashed into before. Johanna looks surprised; I pull out my knife, and press it against her throat. I smile, breathing heavily.

"I guess I won, Jo," I say triumphantly.

"I wouldn't be so sure, Scarface," she says, smiling as well. "Look down."

I do look down, and I see her knife very close to my navel, almost touching it. I close my eyes, because this is just like the last time I was in this position, with Clive during my Games. _I kick Clive with my knee in the stomach and he doubles in pain, dropping the axe. I take him by the shoulders and switch us so he's now the one against the trunk. I punch him in the nose twice, but then I feel a sharp pain to the right of my navel. I look down and I see a green dagger going through me__. _I look up at Johanna and give her a slightly forced smile.

"Wow, I didn't see that coming!" I say, still feeling a little shaken at the memory. "I guess I have nothing left to teach you."

"You didn't have much to teach me anyways, Scarface," she says before running her thumb on my forehead. "You cut your forehead here, we should clean the wound."

With her hand on my forehead I'm suddenly very aware of how close we are. "Don't worry, I didn't even notice," I say taking a step back. "Why don't we have something to eat here and then we head back to the district?"

"Sure," she replies, moving to give me a little space.

After eating some fruits we find in the forest, Johanna and I sit on a tree together, talking. I'm dangling my feet off of the side. Johanna has her back against the trunk, her legs in my lap. We talk about the rebellion, considering the many details that have changed since the Quell was announced. Now that our Mockingjay, Katniss, has to go back to the arena again, a major part of the plan has been added - getting her and Peeta out and to District 13. The plan is kind of complicated, involving the arena itself , which is designed by one of our allies and the Head Gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee, and an invention that an old victor, Beetee created.

We don't worry about the conversation being taped, since Johanna and I found all the cameras in this part of the woods years ago and got rid of them.

"I hate the new plan," Johanna says. "It's so much more complicated than the last one."

"I hate it too, but for different reasons..." I say, stroking one of her legs.

"I know you don't want me to go," she says, obviously slightly annoyed. "We've talked about this, and there's nothing you can do."

''I know, I know. But try to see it my way," I say. "How would you feel if I had to go through the Games, and there was nothing you could do about it?"

"Umm, hello! I've already been through that, brainless," she says, rolling her eyes. "And my situation was even worse than yours, because when I was in the Games you could at least try to find me sponsors. With you the only thing I could do was pray for your safety, and let me tell you, it really didn't make me feel any more relieved."

"I never really thought about it that way," I concede, remembering that awful time during Johanna's Games.

"Yeah, so stop complaining," she says. "You don't have it so bad, since you know that most of us will survive."

"You're right," I reply, giving her a half-grin.

"When am I not right?" she says, smirking.

I pretend to think, my finger on my chin. "Maybe two days ago when you thought Blight was making out with that woman?" I say, inwardly laughing at the uncomfortable expression that replaces her previously smug look.

"Give me a break - I was looking at them from behind, and they were really close. It looked like they were making out!" she insists, looking away.

"Sometimes you're really childish." I poke her, enjoying the way I can make her laugh and turn red.

"Only when I'm around you," she says. "You make me act weird."

"Yeah, right, blame it on me." I laugh, giving her a playful shove, and after a few moments of silence I say, "I think we should get going, it's kind of late and I want to sleep after looking for you for that long."

"Nikey," she says. "I'm sorry I made you remember Clive."

I'm taken a little by surprise by that. I didn't think she caught the way I flinched. "How did you notice?" I ask, looking at my hands.

"I've known you for twelve years, Nike," she says. "You went to the Games seven years ago. It's easy for me to notice when you're having a flashback... I didn't realize how much what I did resembled what Clive did." As she says that she lifts my shirt a little and traces the ugly scar Clive gave me years ago with her fingertips.

I shiver. I hate the effect she can have on me. I don't think she notices that I would do anything for her or that when she touches me I feel happy inside. She doesn't know that I would give my life for her without even having to think about it.

Sometimes, I feel truly pathetic.

We climb down the tree and head back to the district. It's a pretty long walk - about half an hour to get out of the forest and another half an hour to get to Victor's Village. It's getting pretty cold and dark, telling me that it must be fairly late at night and that we must have been out for ten hours or more. That's the longest we've trained since I started teaching her survival and fighting techniques.

We both go to my place. After the announcement of the Quell we've been going to each other houses every single night to sleep. Although I'd never tell anyone else, not even Johanna, I admit that I like going to sleep beside her and seeing her every time I wake up.

That pretty much settles it. I'm a lovesick loser.

"Nike," she starts to say before we go to sleep. "Thank you for all you've been doing for me."

"You don't have to thank -"

"Yes, I do," she says, cutting me off. "You've taught me some very useful things, and I know it's hard for you to let me go alone, because you care so much about everything."

I feel guilty about my plan of volunteering, but I just smile at her, hiding the thoughts running through my mind. "I don't mind doing all that for you," I say truthfully. "I care so much about everything because all of it involves you, and I couldn't live with the thought of not doing everything I can to help you."

Johanna smiles. "You know, sometimes you're extremely cheesy."

I laugh. It's true - I don't let the sappier side of me show often, but when I do it's obvious. "Gee thanks, I love you too."

"I can't believe it's only 3 days before the reaping..." she says after a while. "I have to say - although you're not allowed to repeat this to anyone, understand? - I feel a little nervous."

"Then let me go," I say.

"No," she says. "I might not care about things as much as you do, but I couldn't live with myself either if I asked you to go."

I really think that's the nicest thing Johanna has ever said to anyone, and I'd be lying if I'd said that I didn't smile like an idiot after her "confession." Still, after what I said about not being able to let her go without doing everything I can to help her, I know that I have to volunteer. She's too important, much more than my own life. She'll hate me for it, but I don't care as long as she lives to see everything we're trying to achieve come true.

**I hope you all liked it! Please send a review, even if it's just 2 words, that's fine by me.**


	4. The last reaping

**Thanks to FireBreadandSnares, kattomas, nb1998, Lola Doe and guest reviewer Jay for reviewing. I'm sorry I couldn't update last week, I had something going on and I was pretty busy. Anyway I hope you all like this chapter :).**

**The **_**last **_**reaping:**

Those three days before the reaping pass extremely fast. I spent most of that time with Johanna or with Blight. Now that it is the actual reaping day, I am more nervous than ever. I still think volunteering is the right thing to do, if I volunteer I can protect Johanna and save Blight's or some of the other crazy victors' lives, besides there's a slight chance that both Johanna and I can live, but the idea of going back into the games freaks me out. I can't help but think of all the pain I went through in my first games and how they ruined my life and well, it's scary, even for a 21 year old man like me. Johanna is also freaking out, even though she doesn't say so. I know because over the last 3 days she woke me up at least twice per night for nightmares, not that I mind or anything…

It's just a few hours before the reaping and I'm getting ready. Johanna is back at her place getting ready as well. I shower and change into some fancy clothes for the reaping. I'm rich so of course I can buy whatever clothes I want, but I don't like fancy stuff, so I just wear basically the same thing I wore for my first reaping, brown leather boots, brown dress pants and a bottomed up white shirt. I don't even try to comb my hair because I know I won't get anywhere with that.

I head to the square where the reaping takes place. Almost everybody is already there. It's odd to see the square so empty on a reaping. There's only Blight, the 2 crazy other victors that I've never even spoken to, who look like they're about to pass out, Johanna and me. When I arrive all I notice is how gorgeous Johanna looks. She is wearing a short, elegant green dress that must be new, because I've never seen it before, she has an elaborated hairdo that fits her perfectly and when she sees me she shoots me a dazzling smile. I'm afraid I stare at her until the district escort, Xarxes, made his way to the stage.

Xarxes is the new districts host, he's about 28, he always has a purple or blue wig and his skin is freakishly white. I hate that guy. I used to really like the old host, Nova Brown, but she retired the year Johanna won, in her own words because ''She already had the pleasure of been the host of the 2 greatest victors district 7 will ever had''. Every time I'm around Xarxes I can't help but think about how much better Nova was. Nova was the typical, idiotic, sweet Capitol woman but Xarxes is the complete opposite of that, he doesn't care at all about the people's personalities and he'll only talk to you if you're pretty enough and he loves the Hunger Games even more than president Snow and it's always talking about how lucky the people from the district are for having the chance of been a tribute, but the worst is that he has the biggest crush on Johanna ever and he's always flirting with her, good thing Johanna is smart and he's an idiot. When he walks up the stage he smiles at us, glares at me (it's no secret he hates me) and winks at Johanna, which I admit I find very annoying.

''Hello, everybody!'' he says with his annoying high pitched voice ''Happy Hunger Games and may the odds be ever in your favor! You have no idea how much of an honor it is to be here, representing district 7 in the third quarter quell!''

He tells us the usual speech about how the Hunger Games were created and then he plays that video they play every single year. I look over at Johanna and she looks back at me. She doesn't look scared and I wonder if she's actually not scared or if she's just acting. She smiles at me again and strangely my nervousness disappears a little. It's a good thing she doesn't know the effect she has on me, otherwise she could control me whenever she felt like it. I grin back at her and she looks to the stage again.

The video ends and Xarxes smiles, his ridiculously altered smile. ''Now let's choose our female tribute for this year!'' he says and walks to the big glass ball that contains a single slip we all know is Johanna's. It takes him about a minute to be able to take the slip. He reads Johanna's name surprising no one and Johanna walks up. She looks confident and strong, like if this were not affecting her at all. Xarxes offers his hand to help her up the stage and she doesn't take it, which makes me crack up in my head.

Xarxes looks embarrassed, but he quickly smiles again. ''Now the gentlemen!'' he says excitedly and walks to other big glass ball. He takes a slip and waits a moment to add suspense. This time is very different from 7 years ago, this time I want to be chosen, so that I'd won't have to break my promise, and I know that even if I'm not reaped I'll be going to the games. Finally Xarxes reads the slip and clearly says ''Blight Maxwell!''

Blight makes his way up the stage slowly, but firmly. He doesn't look scared, but it's only because he knows I'll volunteer for him, like we planned. Xarxes greets Blight into the stage and asks if there are any volunteers. I take a deep breath and raise my hand. ''I volunteer!'' I say as firmly as I can. I can almost hear my heart beating and I'm starting to rethink what I just did, but I can't turn it back. I walk slowly up the stage. I'm staring at Johanna the entire time and she's staring back at me. I'm looking at her expression and it hurts to see her, she looks pained and shocked and it's worse knowing it's my fault.

Xarxes smiles a very unreal smile and starts to read the Treaty of Treason. I try to look at Johanna, to tell her I'm sorry for breaking the promise, that I just want her to be safe, but she just looks ahead, not even glancing at me for a second. Xarxes finishes reading and asks us to shake hands. I look at Johanna as I stretch my hand, she looks sad, pained, but most of all angry. She stretches her hand and takes mine and squeezes it so hard that I think she might've broken a few of my fingers, she's definitely angry.

Instead of taking us to the Justice Building to say our goodbyes they take us to some cars and take us to the train station. It surprises me that they won't let us say goodbye, I don't really care since the only 2 people I still care about are with me, but I think that'll be terrible for the other victors if they're chosen, like Finnick or Cecelia.

''They're not letting us say goodbye?'' I ask Johanna while we're in the car. She doesn't answer; she just looks out of the window to the opposite site. I shut up, but I stare at her the entire ride as Xarxes rambles about the most ridiculous things trying to call Johanna's attention. We get to the train station and there are a lot of photographers taking pictures and tapings, but I'm not paying them much attention. We enter the train, which is as fancy as ever.

''I'm going to my chambers'' Johanna says coldly without even looking at any of us and she walks quickly down the hallway.

''I'm gonna talk to her'' I say as I follow her. I catch her in the hallway and take her wrist spinning her around so she looks at me ''Johanna, wait!'' I say

''For what?'' she says angrily making me let go of her ''So you can apologize? Or explain? I don't care Nike, I trusted you, I followed your orders, I let you train me and you just… you just broke your promise like that!'' After saying that she runs to her chambers, enters and closes the door.

I run there as well, calling her name. When I'm there I knock on the door and try to open it, but obviously, she locked it ''Johanna, open the door!'' I say. There's no answer. ''Johanna, please!'' I say again and again there's no answer. ''Fine! Don't open the door! But I'm going to talk anyway, I know you're listening!'' I say and I sit down, my back pressing against the door, after a few seconds I start to talk again.

''I'm sorry, ok? But I'm not sorry for breaking the promise, I'm sorry I made it. The second I saw the announcement I knew I was going to end up volunteering. I know I'm an idiot and you have all the right to hate me, but I volunteered because… because you're too important to me, more than you could ever know.'' I'm quiet for a second, but there's no sound on the other side of the door so I just keep going ''I'm really, really sorry, but I can't bear the thought of you going to the games alone, not again. You're everything I have left. I lost my mom, my dad, my friends, I can't lose you too. You're my everything. You have no idea how much it hurts to see you getting hurt. I told you that I couldn't live with myself if I didn't do anything possible to help you, so that's why I did it. I have to be here for you, helping you or comforting you or doing whatever you need me to do, I just… I just want to be with you every step of the way''

I'm quiet again and there's no sound at the other side of the door and I'm starting to think that maybe she didn't hear anything, but I don't think that's the case. I sit there on the ground for a pretty long time, I don't know what I'm waiting for, but I really don't want to leave. After a couple of hours I stand up and go to my chambers. I feel bad, very bad. I can understand Johanna hating me for this, but that doesn't make it any less painful. Once I'm in my quarters I do the exact same thing I did 7 years ago. I scream on a pillow until I lose my voice. Afterwards I take a quick shower, put some shorts and a simple t-shirt on and head to the dining room. Blight is there so I sit down with him and pour myself a glass of scotch.

''Is she still mad at you?'' he asks me.

''She won't even talk to me'' I say ''I'm just trying to keep her safe, it's so frustrating''

Blight chuckles ''If only you knew…''

''What? If I knew what?''

''I don't think you notice, Blondie'' he says smiling ''But she cares about you as much as you care about her, this must be pretty bad for her''

''I doubt she cares as much I do'' I say taking a sip.

Blight chuckles again ''Anyway, kid, don't worry'' he says ''She'll forgive you, it might take one or two days, but she will, I'm sure of it''

''I hope you're right, Blight'' I say pouring myself another glass ''I really, really hope you're right''

**Well, that's it for now, not my best wor but I think it came out Ok. Please tell me what you think in a review, even if it's just 2 words it'll be enough.**


	5. The Capitol

**Thanks to the people who reviewed, I really appreciate it. Also thanks to my amazing beta, kattomas, for correcting this. Hope you all like it :).**

**The Capitol:**

I'm eating breakfast rather unenthusiastically - the food is amazing, like always, but I really want to talk with Johanna and convince her to at least talk to me during the Games before deciding to ignore me for however long she wants. She didn't appear at dinner yesterday, and I don't know if she'll come to breakfast this morning. She's avoiding me, and it hurts - this is actually the first time in the twelve years I've known her that we've had a meaningful fight. I'm almost done when she appears in the hallway leading to the dining room. She's wearing some really loose clothing, and she looks like she's just woken up. I've never wanted to hug her so badly before.

She looks at me and scowls before turning away. "Johanna, wait!" I say, and I stand up and follow her. She doesn't stop until I grab her wrist and pull her closer to me.

"Nike, let me go," she says. She sounds different, as if she's trying to sound angry when in reality she's sad.

"No," I say, and I spin her around to look at her in the eyes. "Johanna, I'm sorry for what I did, but I wouldn't be able to stand the thought of having to go through this on my own again, and I know you can't either."

I let go of her wrist, but she doesn't try to move away. Instead she replies in the exact same tone she used before. "I can't even look at you without realizing that you're risking your life for me."

I don't know how to answer her, and there's a very uncomfortable silence for a few minutes. "I'm sorry," I finally say. "But… Johanna, it's done already, and I can't take it back. Man, I'm such an idiot… I didn't realize how much I was hurting you, and I'm so sorry - you know that the last thing I want to do is hurt you." She doesn't say anything so I decide to keep talking. "Still… Johanna, our lives are about to go crazy, and everything is going to change, for better or for worse. Isn't a friendship like ours something you want to hold on to as tightly as you can right now?" She's quiet again. "You better answer - otherwise I'm going to start getting cheesy again, and you know once I start there's no turning back."

She holds back her laughter when I say that, and an instant sense of happiness fills me. It's truly pathetic how happy I feel whenever I see her smile. "C'mon, you should eat something." I say.

She sighs. "I hate you," she says before following me to the dining room, and I can't help but smile. When we get there Blight smiles at us and offers Johanna a seat beside him. What is left of breakfast is a little awkward. It consisted largely of Xarxes trying and failing to hit on Johanna and Blight making small talk in an attempt to fill the silence in between pick up lines. When we're finally done, Blight cleans his hands on the mantel, making Xarxes scowl before he turns to Johanna and me.

"So, we should start talking about strategies, shouldn't we?" Blight says.

"We have strategies?" I ask, surprised, wondering why Johanna or myself would need a strategy for this.

"Of course do," Blight says rolling his eyes. "If we want everything to work out according to the plan…" He stops suddenly. "Xarxes, this doesn't concern you. Could you please leave?"

"As the District 7 escort, I believe I'm completely entitled to -" He's cut off in midsentence, left frozen with a hand clapped proudly to his chest.

"And as District 7's oldest victor and mentor here I believe I'm completely entitled to give you an order and expect you to follow it," Blight snaps back.

Xarxes scowls and leaves while muttering something about stupid victors. "I hate that guy…" Blight says once he's out of earshot, and Johanna and I laugh. "Anyway, as I was saying - we've talked about _the plan_ quite a lot, and you know how it's going to go, but now you need to know exactly what details involve you."

"I recommend that you guys to stick together at all costs - you have been training together for a few months, and you know each other styles, strategies and tricks. it does help that you two make a good team. Honestly, I don't care if either of you are against that - you guys know what the goal of the plan is, and that's keeping Katniss and Peeta alive. Haymitch Abernathy will choose who will take care of that, and I'm pretty sure he'll choose either one of you or Finnick. He'll let you know who will ally with our Mockingjays. In the case that it is Finnick then you need to make sure Beetee survives. Beetee is a key factor here; if he dies then the operation could go down with him. At least one of you has to protect him at all costs. Understood?" he asks looking at us, and we both nod.

"What about our public appearances? You know, interviews and training scores, what should we do about that?" Johanna asks.

"Honestly? It doesn't matter, you guys don't need sponsors - really, you'll get them anyway, since you guys are two of most beloved victors in the Capitol."

"We are?" I ask surprised.

"Yeah, I was shocked too," Blight says ruefully. "You were up there with Enobaria, Finnick and Katniss. Back to the question - try not to look too hateful and... I don't know, have a good time. I think this is the first time you're allowed to do whatever you want," he says before standing up and going to sit on the big velvet couch in front of the TV. "In any case, with all the drama you made yesterday, we didn't get to see the reaping."

We move to the couch and settle down for a long couple of hours of tears and mourning. There are a few people that I already know have been chosen, like Finnick or Katniss, but that was as much as I know, so I'm interested to see who had been chosen. From District 1 Cashmere and Gloss were reaped; I have really never spoken to them, but I saw recaps of their Games, and I know for a fact that they're not people I'd want to have on my bad side. They're brutal, even more so than ordinary in the Hunger Games.

District 2 is no better - Brutus and Enobaria are picked, pleasing them both. I still remember the day I met Enobaria. I was 15, and when I saw her shark teeth I was definitely traumatized. In all honesty she still scares me like no other person ever has. And Brutus is not a good guy - I worked with him one time when our tributes allied. He reminds me of Clive, the first and only person I've ever killed. Clive was mean, heartless sociopath, and he killed Chloe and Kyle, two of the people I've cared the most about. Every time I'm in the same room with him I feel the same anger I felt when he took them away. I'm not excited about being with Brutus in the arena.

From District 3, Beetee and Wiress - Nuts and Volts, according to the other Victors - move through the crowd to stand on the stage silently. Don't get me wrong - they're great people, but they're extremely weird, and Wiress is a little mad.

District 4 is next, and they choose Finnick - no surprise there. I'm really shocked when they call Annie's name. Annie is by far the sweetest person I've met, and I really don't think she can handle the arena again. I wish I could say I was relieved when Mags volunteered, but I'm not because Mags is amazing, and I'm almost sure she's not going to make it again.

It's a little sad to say that I don't recognize the victors from 5 or 6, because I've never worked with them, and really, I don't even know their names. Then they show District 7's reaping. They call Johanna, and she goes up the stage defiantly, tossing her head back as if it none of it bothers her. I volunteer after they call Blight, and I can feel Johanna tensing beside me when she sees that, making me feel guilty. Instinctively I put my hand on her leg to help her relax a little. She does, but her stance is still rigid.

From District 8 Cecelia is reaped, horrifying me. Cecelia is a mother of three children, and I can't imagine how it'll be like for them to see their mother in the arena. The male tribute is Woof. He's a nice man - he's very old and has hearing disabilities, from what I know when I worked with him, and his one of the smartest men I've ever known.

I don't know the victors from 9, and as far as I'm concerned they haven't been shown on television for years. I do know the male tribute from 10, though. His name is Dimitri, and although I've never worked with him, I helped him through the deaths of one of his tributes during one of his Games as a mentor. He's a good guy, and it's saddening that he has to go back to the arena.

Seeder and Chaff are chosen from District 11. I've never worked with them either, but I do know them vaguely from all my time in the Capitol. Chaff is a very fun drunk; I've been with him to bars, and when he's drunk he can be hilarious. Seeder is different - she's about 60 and very sweet. She likes giving me and the younger Victors chocolate - what's not to like? I feel a cloud of dread hanging over me as I watch them climb the stage - they shouldn't have to go back in.

Finally they play the last reaping for this Games, set in District 12. Katniss is obviously chosen, and she makes her way up the stage as confidently as Johanna did. Now that I consider it, from the little I've seen of Katniss, she's a lot like Johanna - even the way they walk is similar. Then Haymitch is called, but Peeta quickly takes his place. I've been thinking for a very long time that Peeta and Katniss have been just pretending to be in love, but when Peeta volunteered, I wonder how much of that is true. Most people would write it off as another ploy in their continual deception, but they don't understand how horrible it is to be in the arena - the pain and memories that only add to the torture. If Peeta volunteered it's because he loves her - perhaps not _in love,_but he obviously cares about her more than he does his own life. I feel sudden respect for that, and I subconsciously squeeze Johanna's leg a little, reminding myself of all the reasons I had for volunteering.

Just as the show ends we start to pull over in the Capitol. I can hear the crowd outside - people cheering, taking pictures, and calling our names. Johanna and I walk to the doors of the train, and as soon as they open the cheering gets even louder. I hear a very high pitched voice saying "Oh my God! That's Nike Midas! He's so much cuter in person!" and stuff like "Look! It's Johanna Mason! She's definitely the hottest victor alive."

I just try to smile and ignore the comments about Johanna being hot - coming from Capitol citizens, it means next to nothing. When we start walking along the little path ahead of us, Johanna intertwines our fingers together and walks closer to me. I smile, even though I know full well why she's doing that. She loves to fool with the Capitol, so ever since she won her Games she's always kept up the pretense of dating me. It's pretty fun for both of us, but honestly I let her do that because I really enjoy it.

We walk the short length of the street in a few minutes, and before I can process the rapid sequence of events, we're talking to our prep teams. I start to get nervous and a little scared. I've been worried sick about Johanna not hating me, and I didn't realize completely what was going on. The Games started for me again. But really, did they ever end?

**Okay, I hope you all enjoyed chapter 5. I know full well that the last few chapters have been a little dull and lacking of any action, but they already arrived to the Capitol and things will be more interesting from then on. I promise, once they are in the arena the chapters will be action filled ;). Anyway, I hope you liked it and please leave a review, it'll only take like 20 seconds.**


	6. Opening ceremonies

**Thanks to kattomas, FireBreadandSnares and Something Spiffy for reviewing,especially to Something Spiffy and the gazillion reviews she left in No Matter What ;), thank you they were very appreciated :). I hope you all like this chapter.**

**Opening ceremonies:**

I've been with my prep team for 2 hours. Last time I was here, 7 years ago, I was a kid, I didn't have a beard or chest hair or any of those things and I guess for the Capitol having hair in your face that does not reassemble a cat is not attractive. After they get rid of all the hair in my body –and I mean _all _of it- They clean my entire body. The entire time they're doing that they chat among themselves about my appearance. I don't pay attention though; they did the same thing when I first came. When they finally think I look decent enough for Perc, my stylist, to see me they call him and leave right after praising my looks and telling me how nice it is to see me again after all this time.

Perc walks in, looking a lot better than he did when I first met him. He used to have a multicolored afro, but now he looks elegant with simple short dark hair, making him look almost normal. Almost. He stares at me for a while and I'm just awkwardly standing there controlling the impulse to cover myself. Finally he smiles at me and hands me a robe that I'm glad to take.

''Nike!'' he says stretching his arms for a hug ''It's so nice to see you! I think it's been 4 years, right?''

''Yeah'' I say ''I still don't know why I didn't see you those few years''

"Oh, work things, nothing to worry about'' he says ''But look at you! A full man, last time I saw you, you were still a boy, now you could be Finnick O'dair's competition!''

I laugh, because I'm not nor will I ever be half as good looking as Finnick, but it's still nice to hear it. ''Thanks, Perc, but I doubt it'' I say.

''I'm been honest, Nike'' he says ''You're a very good looking man. But enough talk, we need to discuss your clothes for the opening ceremonies and make sure they're a fantastic!''

I wonder if he's ever done a costume for the opening ceremonies that was fantastic. He and his partner Thrain, have been doing the same thing over the past 40 years. Trees, so I'm pretty sure I know what he'll do.

Hours later I'm walking towards the place all the other chariots are at, wearing the most ridiculous clothes ever to be worn by any human being. I look nothing like a tree, more like a leprechaun that has a lot of branches stuck to his clothes and hair. I try to look normal, but that's kind of difficult when you have branches in your hair…

''Nike!'' I hear someone saying to my right and I turn around to see Chaff walking towards me excitedly looking far better than me. ''How are you?'' he asks when he's near enough ''I would give you a hug, but I'm afraid one of those things might hurt me''

I shake my head and smile ''I've been good, Chaff'' I ask ''How about you? Still drinking and partying every chance you get?''

''I should ask you the same thing!'' he says ''Last time we drank together I had to take you to your room because you were too wasted to walk!''

I laugh, because it is quite true, even though I don't remember much of that night ''True enough, Chaff'' I say ''I'm going to find Johanna, say hello to Seeder for me''

I keep walking through all the victors afterwards, stopping to say hi to some of them from time to time, while I look for Johanna or Finnick. I finally found Finncik and I see that he's half naked and standing quite close to our Mockingjay, Katniss, who's wearing a tight black suit that's probably going to be lit in fire. I decide to go there, prepared to act like I always do around Capitol people and people who don't know me, in other words cocky and a little annoying.

''Finnick!'' I say when I'm there smiling smugly ''Are you hitting on engaged women? You know that's not nice''

''Nike?'' he says raising an eyebrow with a ridiculous expression ''I'm sorry, I couldn't recognize you with so many leaves covering your face. And me and Katniss here were just chatting, right, darling?'' he finishes looking and Katniss and winking, making her blush slightly. You gotta admire Finnick's acting and the effect he has on every single female living thing on the planet.

''Oh, I'm sorry'' I say ''I'm so rude, I didn't introduce myself! Nike Midas, but of course you already know that'' I say with a tone that makes me think, maybe I'm as good of an actor as Finnick.

I see a hint of recognition in Katniss's eyes, so probably she actually does know who I am. ''Katniss Everdeen'' she says simply.

''I know who you are'' I say with that same tone ''You and Peter made a huge impact last year''

''Peeta'' she says sounding annoyed, and honestly, how can I blame her? Finnick's and mine stage presence is just annoying and a little rude. I admit it, I love it.

''Talking about that, Peeta is coming'' Finnick says ''Sorry you have to cancel your wedding. I know how devastating that must be for you'' he says looking at Katniss and throwing a sugar cube into his mouth before leaving and I follow him right after adding a ''Pleasure to meet you, Katniss''.

I walk with Finnick for a while and once we know they can't hear us we burst out laughing. ''Man, Finnick, how do act like that? It's amazing, if I didn't know you better I would actually think you're a player''

He laughs ''You're not too bad yourself, bro'' he says '''Nike Midas, but of course you already know that', genius man, seriously'' he says with a fairly good impression of me.

I'm pretty happy to say, that Finnick and I have the biggest bromance ever. I met him the year after I won. One of my tributes (Keith, the first tribute I came to like and ended up seeing how he died) was able to be a part of the Career alliance, that year I met Enobaria, Brutus, Cashmere and Finnick. I admit it, I first I thought Finnick was a complete and total idiot, but he's not like that at all, he's a lot like me actually. We were both thrown into the arena at the age of 14, we both lost every single person we ever loved, except for our mentor and our best friend, except that in his case his ''best friend'' is actually the love of his life, the difference is that he's been tortured by the capitol and if he doesn't do what they say they might take Annie away from him. Been honest, I admire Finnick. He's a role model, they way he loves his family and the people around him, the way he fights for what he believes in and how generous he is, is just amazing, but I will _never _tell him I think that.

''You should go, dude'' he says ''Your district partner, the tree nymph, is probably waiting for you''

''We might be tree nymphs, but at least we're wearing something'' I say smugly looking at his outfit, which is basically just a piece of woven fabric covering his crotch.

''Haha, tree boy'' he says sarcastically ''Now get out of here, I need to go to my chariot as well''

I laugh and head to my chariot. Johanna is already there and she looks just as ridiculous as me. She's wearing a dress that looks like something a fairy would wear, except that it has branches sticking all over it and there are also in her hair, which I noticed, they cut shorter, which would look very nice if it weren't for all the branches. When I climb on board of the chariot I fake gasp and I say ''You're the most breathtaking _tree_ I've ever seen!''

We both laugh very hard, because we both know we look ridiculous ''This is disgusting'' Johanna says touching her dress ''This is like a crime against clothing''

''I couldn't agree more'' I say ''But what can we do? Throw the branches to the crowd as we circle down the city loop?''

She looks at me with a weird look ''We could do that…''

''What? Johanna, be honest, are you drunk?'' I ask skeptically.

''No… Well, maybe a little'' she says ''Still, Nikey, you know how the Capitol people are, they would dig it and they would probably try to catch the branches like crazy, besides Blight said we should just have fun, didn't he?''

''Are you seriously suggesting this?'' I ask and she nods with a big smile on her face ''I can't believe I'm even considering it…'' I say mostly to myself, then I just sigh and smile ''I really don't see why not''

Right when I say that the chariots start moving and I definitely forgot how hard it was to stay standing on the chariots and I hold on to the first thing I can find, which happens to be, Johanna's hand. As soon as I regain my steadiness I let go of it, but she stops me and keeps my hand intertwined with hers. I smile the goofiest smile any human being can make and kept looking at her from the corner of my eye until it's almost our turn to enter the city.

''You ready?'' she asks me when just mere seconds away from entering.

''Yep, one the count of three''

We both count to three and as soon as we enter the crowd cheers, just because is us, but they go berserk when I start taking Johanna's branches and she takes mine and we throw them to the audience. It's amazing, they are shouting our names, trying to get a hold of one of the branches and Johanna and I are laughing more than we've laughed in a long time. I feel like a kid and that's something I haven't felt in years, since I was forced to grow up way too quickly. I squeeze Johanna's hand and mouth a thank you, for convincing me of this and just been here. She winks back as she takes a branch sticking from my hair and throws it randomly at the crowd. I do the same and the crowd still is going crazy trying to catch them.

After a few minutes of this the crowd suddenly gasps and stops paying us much attention, which really is fine, considering we are still laughing. We see what they're staring at after a second, when they play it on the big screens, Katniss and Peeta. They look amazing, serious, strong, confident, but most of all rebellious. It's incredible what Cinna and Portia can make, they must be the most talented stylists the Capitol's ever had.

We finally circle the city loop and wait for President Snow to make his welcoming speech. I breathe deeply, trying not to yell all the obscenities I know when he makes his way up the stage. He's the reason my dad and friends died, he's the reason I drink, he's the reason I have nightmares every single night. I would give anything to see him suffer like Johanna, Finnick, Mags, Annie, Peeta, Katniss and every living victor did and still does.

He finishes and we are taken into the training center, where we are greeted by our stylists and prep team. They ask us who's idea was it to throw the branches and we say it was mine. I thought they were going to be mad, but they just laugh and say it was genius. After some tiem of small talk Johanna and I run to the elevator and we're able to catch one with only Peeta and Katniss inside.

I nod at Katniss and wink, keeping my Capitol act on, and mocking Katniss a little bit. Johanna looks at Katniss and says ''Isn't my costume awful? My stylist's the biggest idiot in the Capitol. Our tributes have been trees for forty years under him. Wish I'd gotten Cinna. You look fantastic''

Girl talk. It's weird to see Johanna into that; I mean of course I know she likes fashion- how could I not? I know everything about her- but she knows I really don't get or care much about fashion so she doesn't talk much about it to me. Katniss answers and Johanna mentions something about a shirt she wore in 2, but really I'm not paying much attention. That's until Johanna removes her dress completely and throws it away, ending up completely naked except for a pair of slippers.

I blush immediately. I've seen her naked a few times, she always gets naked in the Capitol, but I still get nervous whenever she does it and I use all my concentration not to stare at her naked body. Katniss also looks shocked and flustered, good thing I'm not the only one. Johanna talks with Peeta about his paintings the entire ride to floor 7 and I'm very grateful that Peeta isn't staring at her like most people would. Johanna and I step out of the elevator into our quarters.

''Jo?'' I say.

''Yeah?''

''Could you please put something on?'' I ask trying not to look directly at her.

She laughs ''It's cute how nervous you get'' she says putting a hand on my shoulder affectionately and then walking down the corridor to her room. I'm not proud to say that I stared at her until I couldn't see her anymore and then I just stood there for a while trying to think straight. I sigh, I just hate the effect she has on me.

**Well, that's it for today. I really hope you all enjoyed that and please leave a review. I'm sorry it took me a day longer than usual to update, I was kind of busy. Anyway, thanks for reading and please review :)**


	7. Training

**Thanks to FireBreadandSnares, divergentbirdkid, Something Spiffy and ThisAwesomeKid for reviewing, I really appreciate it. I hope you all like this :).**

**Training:**

I'm woken up by somebody banging on the door of my quarters ''Wake up! Breakfast in 5!'' I hear Xarxes voice saying from outside as the banging gets even louder. I groan and cover my head with a pillow trying to block the sound. I didn't sleep last night, I had another nightmare. This time it wasn't about Johanna- which is weird since they're almost always about her- it was about the day where Dante, a boy from 2, almost made me lose my hand and how afterwards a good friend called Kyle died burned to the death. It's hard to sleep once you've seen a 12 year old boy's half burned face.

I stand up after laying in bed for a few minutes and then yelling at Xarxes that I was gonna be there in a minute. I only brush my teeth; I don't even bother changing out my pajamas, I really just don't feel like it. I go to the dining room where everybody already is. Xarxes is saying something to an avox, probably an order of some sort, Blight is holding his head in his hands which probably means he's having a hangover and Johanna looks almost as sleepy as me, yawning and rubbing her eyes, but she's already wearing the training clothes, while I'm still in black boxer shorts and a white shirt.

I serve myself some rolls and hot chocolate, best combination ever, and sit down on the table beside Johanna. ''Nightmare?'' she asks me without glancing at me or anything.

''How did you know?'' I ask.

''You look tired and whenever we're in the capitol you eat much more than just some rolls and hot chocolate'' she says.

I just shrug and eat quietly for a while ''Kyle'' I say finally ''I saw him dying again''. It's hard for me to say this things out loud, it has always been, but it's Johanna, I tell her everything, the only thing I've never told her would have to be that I dream about her all the time and that when I died for 2 minutes after my games I had a crazy vision in which she saved me from the death.

She nods and looks back at her food. She doesn't try to make me feel better or tell me it's over now or any of that, she understands about death and the pain it brings. I wish she didn't.

''Nike, are you done?'' Blight asks after a while ''we need to go to training''

''Yeah, let's go'' I say standing up.

''Shouldn't you change your clothes?'' he asks.

''Nah, it's not like I care'' I say shrugging. I mean, really none of the other victors cares about their scores, except for the ones who don't know about the rebellion.

We go to the training center where almost everybody already is. I say hi to some people and then we wait quietly until the rest arrive. At 8 o'clock sharp Atala starts to explain us about all the stations, but we all already know, so no one pays much attention. When she's done we all scatter to different stations.

''What do you wanna do?'' I ask Johanna.

''Maybe we should split up'' she says ''Try to talk to Katniss and convince her you're not the idiot you pretend to be''

I laugh ''I love portraying that idiot, is extremely fun''

''I know, it's pretty fun to see it too'' she says ''Do whatever you want, I'm going to the camouflage station''

''Sure, see you at lunch''

I scan my options for a moment and I finally settle for actually talking with Katniss, who's in the fire starting station. I stare at her for a moment before actually going. I said it before and I say it now, she reminds me of Johanna. She's beautiful, strong and confident, but not just that, she's also very serious and she cares about her family a lot- why else did she volunteered for her sister?- it makes me wonder, if she's so much like Johanna is it possible that I'm like Peeta? Maybe I am.

I walk over there and I see that she's actually successful in starting a fire and it only took her a few minutes, that's pretty good. I settle right beside her. She sees me and nods and I grin and wink. I never said I wasn't going to act like my idiot capitol self. I start the process of ignite the fire. Katniss stares at me while I do so; she's probably trying to measure my abilities, so obviously I try my best to show off. I start the fire in about half the time she did, which makes me feel great.

''Nice job'' she says.

''Thanks'' I say like I normally would and then I remember I'm acting like a jerk so I quickly add with my cockiest grin ''But I already know that''

She rolls her eyes and looks around the place, probably looking for another station she can go to and get away from me ''Does that bother you?'' she asks suddenly and points to the camouflage station. I look there and I see Johanna completely naked applying all different kinds of things to her body.

I blush and look away and I can see Katniss suppressing a smile. She got me. ''Honestly, yes it does'' I say.

''Why? Do you like her?'' she asks with a small smile that reminds me of Johanna even more.

I laugh ''Are you going to act like every other person in the capitol?'' I ask ''No, I don't like her'' Liar ''I've just known her for too long, it's a little uncomfortable''

''How long have you known her?'' she asks.

''In September…'' I say thinking about it for a second ''13 years''

''You know the dates?'' she asks surprised, raising an eyebrow.

I nod smiling, really the best 13 years of my life, even with all that happened ''She's my best friend, even with everything that has happened to me, I know that the happiest moments of my life were, and still are, whenever I'm around her''

Katniss smiles ''You're not as much as an idiot as I thought you were'' she says ''You actually remind me a little of Peeta''

I laugh, I guess my theory has just been confirmed ''Just be quiet about it, nobody's supposed to know I'm not an idiot'' I say and wink.

Beetee and Wiress come to the station and start working pretty close to us. They've never been a bother for me so I hug them and talk with them for a while until I decide it's time to change stations and talk with somebody else. ''Bye, Wiress, Beetee'' I say ''And it was great talking to you, Katniss, almost as great as it must've been for you'' I say with my cocky smile and I wink again. Katniss rolls her eyes, but this time she also smiles slightly.

I'm thinking about what other station I can go to when they announce lunch. Looks like I spend a very long time talking with Katniss. I walk up to Johanna, she's wearing clothes again, but she's very oily, which tells me she was probably wrestling.

''How did it go?'' I ask as we help a large group of victors to move the tables so we can all eat together.

''Pretty good, I talked to Peeta for a while'' she says.

''Were you naked while doing so?'' I ask.

''Why? Jealous?'' She asks elbowing me playfully ''No, I was already dressed. Anyway, he's pretty nice, he's actually like a younger, even cheesier version of you''

''Wow, cheesier?'' I ask ''That's impressive''

She smiles and shakes her head ''What about you?''

''I think I got Katniss to like me'' I say.

''How could you have possibly done that?'' she asks ''She doesn't look like the kind of person who just goes and makes friends''

I have to suppress the laughter that invades me ''I know how to treat with her kind'' I say and this time I elbow her.

''What's that supposed to mean?''

''Nothing, is just that I think we found our doubles in Peeta and Katniss'' I say shrugging.

''Are you saying I'm like Katniss?!'' she says looking seriously offended ''How could you?!''

''What? It's true!'' I say.

''Ugh, shut up'' she says.

I laugh ''Okay, sorry'' I say ''Do you mind going back to the wrestling station with me? I want to see how much better you've gotten since I completely beat you in the woods of the district'' I add after a second.

''You didn't completely beat me'' she says ''You just were lucky''

''Yeah, right'' I say with the cocky grin I usually save just for the Capitol ''I ended up been ''lucky'' 7 times in a row''

She glares at me and then smiles evilly ''You're on, Scarface''

We eat as we talk with all the others tributes. I talk with Peeta and Johanna is right, the amount of things we have in common is pretty shocking, even with our completely different life styles. I talk with him the longest, but I also talk a little with Finnick and Mags. Mags tells me about how noble it was for me to volunteer and I wonder if she knows that she volunteered as well.

After lunch I go to a couple other stations before going to my ''date'' at the wrestling station with Johanna. I talk with Cashmere and Gloss in the sword fighting station and they seem nicer than last time I talked to them, maybe they finally got over the fact that I killed their favorite tribute during my games. I talk with Brutus as well and I have a very disturbing conversation on how it's best to kill a victim with big weapons that can smash bones. After that conversation I stand as far away as I can from Enobaria trying to avoid another conversation like that one. There's about an hour left of training for the day when I go to the wrestling station. Johanna is already there and I'm glad she's wearing clothes. ''Ready to get your ass kicked?'' she asks me and I just smile.

We stand on the little ring and get ready to start. From what've seen of Johanna, she's way more offensive than defensive. You just need to be patient and try to keep her in line until you see a chance of knocking her down. The fight starts and she immediately lunges for me. I take one of her wrists and spin her to me so I'm in a better position for tackling her to the ground. She presses her hand on my chest and pushes me with a surprising strength and I let her go. She takes me by the shoulders and I can't help but think how simple and inefficient her method is and I'm about to break free from her grasp when very quickly she takes the wrist and twist it so she's now behind me, holding my arm behind my back in a painful angle. Now this method is much more sophisticated, but I know how to get out of it. I just need to apply enough strength to throw her over my head and that'll be it. I'm preparing to do so, when she does something highly unexpected. She reaches forward so her chest is pressed against my back and she presses her lips softly to my cheek. The kiss only lasts a second, but it completely throws me off my game and she knocks me down just a second after she kissed me.

''I won!'' Johanna says happily laying on top of me, with one knee on my chest holding me down.

''That wasn't fair!'' I say, but I really couldn't care less, I still feel a tingling on my cheek in the spot her lips touched and I have the urge to touch that spot with my fingers, but I don't.

She stands up and offers her hand to help me stand. I take it and I can see that she's extremely happy. ''It's not my fault a simple kiss distracts you that much'' she says shrugging and stepping very close to me. I catch my breath and then I notice that everybody else seemed to have done that as well. The room is completely quiet except for a sound in the archery range. Johanna notices too and we turn to look at whatever everybody else is looking.

It's Katniss. She's shooting arrow after arrow at fake birds that Tax, the instructor is throwing through the air. It's unbelievable. Every arrow hits the target, sometimes Tax throws more than one bird at a time and she's fast enough to hit them before they even touch the ground. Her concentration and ability are almost artistic; it's beautiful to watch her shoot. She notices us staring and turns looking surprised to see every single victor staring at her.

''Is there any way we can convince Haymitch to let us ally with her in the games?'' I ask Johanna, who looks just as mesmerized as me.

''I don't know'' she says ''But I sure hope so''

**I hope you enjoyed this and please tell me what you think! Talking about what people think of stories, you should all check out a story called ''A series of Hunger Games Oneshots'' by Something Spiffy, it is incredibly awesome :D**


	8. Be alright

**Thanks to FireBreadandSnares, ThatAwesomeKid and Something Spiffy for reviewing :). I hope you all enjoy this chapter. And the chapter is not named after Justin Bieber's song, just to make that clear.**

**Be alright:**

I wake up earlier today, hardest thing I've ever done, to actually wear clothes and have some time for breakfast before training. I'm the first one there and I sit down and eat without much appetite. I'm not feeling all that well, to be honest. The reality of all that's been going on around me- the rebellion, the quell, my very probable death in a few days- all of that is hitting me hard. I obviously knew about the dangers and how much pain I'd have to endure when I volunteered, what I forgot is that I'm the most sensitive person on the planet and that I tend to over think everything a million times. I also feel guilty. I told Johanna about it in her house after the announcement of the quell, I told her I felt guilty for her having to go to the arena. She told me she didn't blame me, but I still feel like it's my fault. I hate how I over think everything, I'm giving myself a headache…

I think about getting a drink when Johanna and Blight come over to the dining room. ''Another nightmare?'' Johanna asks me when she takes the seat next to mine.

''No, why?'' I ask trying to sound normal and not letting show how messed up my mind is right now.

''I don't know, you look weird'' she says ''Guess is nothing''

I'm pretty sure she's going to ask a question of this kind later on during the day, but I'm glad she didn't do it now. I don't feel like talking about my feelings, much less in front of Blight who, even though he's great with advice, will probably laugh and tell you to ''Man up'' if you go to him to talk about feelings. We finish eating in silence and once Blight is done he wipes his hands and looks at us with a serious expression, like he always does when he's actually about to say something important.

''Well guys, I have good news and bad news'' he says ''Which one do you want first?''

''Let's hear the good one'' I say not really caring much, I'm probably screwed either way.

''Haymitch already chose who will ally and keep safe Katniss and Peeta during the games.'' He says.

I look up, because that actually caught my attention. Johanna and I requested to be with Katniss yesterday (to Johanna's displeasure) after we saw her shoot. We were really hoping to have her with us during the games. ''And?'' Johanna asks.

''Sorry, Haymitch chose Finnick'' Blight says ''I'm pretty sure it's just to annoy Katniss, though''

I groan ''Too bad'' I say ''She has talent with the bow and arrow''

''So I heard'' Blight says ''Almost every single victor requested to be with her yesterday, so she must be good''

''Why?'' Johanna asks ''She seems like a bother to me''

I can't control the smile that forms on my lips when she says that ''What?'' She asks me when she sees my expression.

''Nothing, you're just like the exact same person, but aside from that…'' I say a little mockingly as my smile grows wider.

''We're not!'' she complains.

''Yes, you are'' I say and I poke her playfully as I do so.

''No, we're not!'' She says trying to make me stop poking her, but she has a hint of a smile in her lips.

''Yes, you are''

''We're not!''

''Can you guys leave the flirting for later?'' Blight asks rolling his eyes ''We still have things to discuss''

I blush when he says that and I look at the table ''We weren't flirting…'' I say mostly to myself.

Bligh ignores me ''You need to keep Beetee safe'' he says seriously ''Wiress too. In case one of them dies, in the bloodbath or in a fight or something you need to keep the other one safe at all costs. If both of them can live then much better''

''Fine, we'll keep them safe'' I say.

''I don't think you understand'' Blight says ''Beetee is old and Wiress is, well crazy. They're not what they used to be, you might… you might have to risk your life more than once to make sure they live''

''Aren't I risking my life enough already?'' I want to say, but I bite my tongue and just scowl at my hands on the table. After some advice on how to keep them alive and some other things that honestly I find useless, he sends us to training.

I walk with Johanna towards training. I don't say anything and I just stare ahead. ''Is everything alright? Seriously, you're freaking me out'' Johanna says looking at me.

''Yeah, why?'' I say a little annoyed.

''For that answer'' she says ''And you're scowling and glaring at everything. You sure you're fine?''

''Yes'' I say trying to soften the scowl that I'm pretty sure is still on my face ''I'm fine, just tired, I guess'' I say forcing a smile.

She doesn't say anything. I know I'll have to talk about all I'm feeling with her sooner or later and the thought of doing that bothers me and I'm pretty sure the scowl is back. We arrive and say hi to some people. Not much time after Atala tells us her usual speech and we scatter to the stations. Johanna goes to the climbing wall and I go to the sword fighting station. I think that maybe if I do something familiar and something I'm good at I might feel a bit less angry at everything.

I pick a sword and I start to destroy a dummy with all I have. It's no good though, the dummy ends up so broken and destroyed that it is impossible for me to fight it anymore, so I move to the dummies made out of wood which are much better for releasing rage. About an hour later I'm sweaty and the dummy doesn't have either arm and its head is about to fall off.

I'm about to take on another dummy when I see Peeta making his way to this station. He smiles at me when he sees me and I just nod, which means my level of grumpiness is reaching its peak. He goes to pick a sword and I notice that he has no idea what he's doing and when he finally settles for one he drops a lot of the others. I notice he's a little clumsy and I go there to help him pick up the swords he dropped.

''Thanks'' He says once all the swords are back in their place.

''I don't want to sound rude or anything'' I say ''But do you have any idea of how to do this?''

''Not really'' he says shrugging ''Is it too obvious?''

''A little, yeah'' I say smiling ''You choose the wrong sword'' He picked one very long and thin wickedly sharp, I think it's called a Katana.

''I did?'' he asks looking at it with a questioning look.

''Yep'' I say ''You should use one like mine, maybe shorter or longer depending on how fast you are or how good your reflexes are, the one you took is for people shorter than you and faster too''

''You knew all that just by looking at me picking the sword?'' he asks raising an eyebrow.

I shrug ''I've been sword fighting for 7 years, you learn stuff'' I say simply ''If you want I can teach you a few things''

Peeta agrees excitedly and we start with a little lesson. I teach him all the basics, how to stand, how to hold the sword and a few basic attacks. He's not bad at all, but he's a little slow and his reflexes aren't the best, but I'm pretty sure that if he practices a little he'll become very good soon. I tell him all that and he beams happily. It's weird, sometimes very enthusiastic people annoy me, since I'm pretty lazy, but in Peeta it feels kind of natural to be excited.

''Thanks, Nike!'' he says shaking my metal hand ''This will be amazing for protecting Katniss in the arena…''

I'm a little surprised by that answer ''You don't think it'll be useful to protect yourself too?''

''Well, of course'' he says ''But Katniss has always been a priority. Her life is a lot more worth it than mine.''

''That's very noble, Peeta'' I say smiling for real. The first time today.

''Isn't that the same thing you're doing?'' he asks.

''What do you mean?''

''For Johanna Mason'' he says simply, practicing some of the moves I showed him ''I've seen how you look at her and how happy you look when she's around you, you look just like me when I'm with Katniss''

I'm left speechless. I never knew I was so obvious. And as I think that I blush, wondering if any of the other victors or mentors has ever noticed ''I am that obvious?'' I ask with the sudden realization that this is the first time I've ever admitted out loud my feelings for Johanna. How did Peeta get such a personal information out of me so fast?

''Nah, you hide it better than me, but sometimes I can just see it'' he says 'But don't worry, I won't tell anyone''

That night I'm awake very late, way pass midnight actually. I found some videos, recaps of the games. The games number 68 called my attention, my games. I've been watching them for a few hours now, replaying things I wish I could change over and over and killing myself with the deaths of those who I loved. I don't know why I'm doing this; it's like reopening a wound that never fully closed.

I hear footsteps and I stop the video to see who it is, it's Johanna. She's wearing a nightgown and looking sleepy and a little surprised. ''what are you doing up this late'' I ask her as she sits beside me and folds her legs in front of her.

''I was about to ask the same thing'' She says ''Will you finally tell me what has been bothering you all day?''

''This'' I say and I hit play. I see myself, so young and in so much pain, using my sword as a crutch trying to win a battle I already lost. Then the unthinkable happened, I actually won and I pushed Dante, from district 2, and he slipped and falls off a cliff. I regretted it and I threw myself to the ground and I caught him. He looked surprised and asked me what I was doing, that I should just kill him. That's when I made the worst mistake of all. _''I don't have to kill anybody just because the Capitol says I have to!'' _those were the words that ruined my life. I stop the video after Dante's death and I take my head in my hands.

''You did the right thing'' Johanna tells me after a moment of silence.

''Did I?'' I say ''Did I, really? My dad died because of that! So did Douglas! And now you're here risking your life, just because I said and did something I shouldn't have!'' I'm crying now and I try to wipe my eyes, but I'm so angry and frustrated, that I'm basically just hitting myself in the face.

''Nike'' Johanna says placing a hand on my knee''If you hadn't done that things wouldn't have changed that much, maybe the Capitol would've done what they did to me and Finnick, you can't win with the Capitol''

''Maybe, but then it would've been the Capitol to blame, not me'' I say ''I ruined my own life and I also ruined yours, you have no idea how horrible it is to live with this all the time!''

''It's not your fault!'' she says ''You were been brave and amazing. Nike, your father told me he had never been prouder than that day! He was proud of you and so was Douglas. I doubt either of them would've ever wanted you to think all of this.'' She squeezes my hand and smiles a little ''Besides, if you hadn't done that, you wouldn't be the noble idiot of my best friend''

''Now look who's getting cheesy…'' I say smiling a bit and looking at my hands as she laughs. Then she leans forward and kisses my cheek softly, making me look up to her face, surprised. This is the second time she has ever kissed me, and the first time was to distract me during wrestling, so I'm a little shocked.

''Don't worry, Nike. Everything will be alright'' after saying that she stands up and says good night.

I stare at her and I smile. I feel the rage I had leaving and I feel better about everything. I keep saying over and over again that I hate the effect she has on me, but I noticed something, I not just hate it, I also love it. I love that just with a few words she can convince me, even in the worst times, that everything will be alright. And it will be, I'll make sure of it.

**I wasn't really sure about writing this, I thought about going directly to the private sessions since that would be way more exciting, but I noticed I love writing emotional scenes. Still, I feel like this alone is not enough, so I'll be posting the private sessions tomorrow morning :), I'm excited, they're gonna be awesome! Anyway, please leave a review :D**


	9. Fear

**Thanks to FireBreadandSnares and Kattomas for reviewing. For all the PJO fans out there, I just finished the Mark Of Athena and my god, I completely died with the ending. I don't think I can wait a year for the House Of Hades… Anyway, I hope you like this!**

**Fear:**

I'm completely and utterly sure that we, victors, take absolutely nothing seriously. Today is the day of the private session with the Game makers and the amount of joking about it and laughing about whatever we were gonna do was shocking. My favorite one was Mags, who said she was simply going to take a nap during her session. I'm not nervous about it, my score simply doesn't matter this time, I could get a 1 and I'll probably still get a few sponsors, same goes to Johanna. Still I have no idea what I could actually do. Sword fighting? No, I did that last time, it would just be boring. Throwing knives? I suck at that… Climbing? I'm too slow to be taken seriously in that field. Bow and arrow? I'm not good at that either. I guess I'll just have to figure it out once it's my turn to go.

Johanna, on the other hand, is completely excited about getting another private session. On her first games she pretended to be a weakling so she wouldn't be taken seriously by her competition, because of that she got a 2 on her scores. Now, she really wants to see how high her score could be while doing something awesome, like throwing axes for instance, which I discovered she's incredibly good at.

Everything goes a lot quieter once they start calling names. Only a few people are talking and it's more serious now. I talk with Katniss and Peeta for a while as I wait for my turn, neither of them seems to be very sure about what they'll do either and I find that very reassuring. It takes more than 2 hours before the male morphling from 6 is called which means I am next. ''Nike Midas'' the speaker says after about 10 minutes.

''Good luck, Nikey'' Johanna tells me when I stand up.

''Don't call me Nikey'' I say, but I also smile ''And good luck to you too, I hope you destroy many, many dummies with scary accuracy''

''Awww, that's the sweetest thing ever''

I laugh and I head to the place where the sessions take place. I walk in and the Game makers are quiet and stare at me with interest. ''Nike Midas, district 7'' I say when I walk in. It's very weird to be back here for a private session after 7 years, but I try not to think about that. Since I really have nothing to do I head for the sword fighting station and I pick my usual silver 3 foot long sword. I attack a dummy a few times until it is on the floor almost completely destroyed. What I'm doing feels boring to me, so probably the game makers think the same thing and if I want to keep on the act of confident capitol jerk, which I do, I need to get a good score.

I scan my surroundings to see what I can do that could be more entertaining. I finally see the obstacle track. I think obstacle track is not a good enough name for it. 7 years ago, it was simpler, just a few different landscapes and traps and that was it. Now it is gigantic, a small arena if you will, and not only there are traps, there are also radical weathers, animals, mutts and all of it is controlled by actual game makers. Perfect.

I walk over there, sword still in hand and I tell the guy who is in charge of the track to make it as hard for me as possible to get out of there. Then I prepare myself and run inside the ''arena''. I'm in a forest. But this forest is different than the one back at home. In district 7 there are mostly pine trees, here there are a lot of different kinds of trees, like palms and mango trees. I run through them not worrying a lot about them. I notice that the weather is very moist and hot and in just a few minutes I'm sweating.

I hear a rumbling to my left and I stop in my tracks. I see nothing. I keep going, but I hear the same sound and I stop, raise my sword and wait. Suddenly I see a huge wolf-like thing running towards me at full speed. I recognize them as the same type of mutt they used for the final showdown in last year's games. I slash my sword and cut its leg off. The mutt howls in pain and I kill it by thrusting my sword into its chest. I hear other mutts coming and I run trying to get out of there and not have to fight them all. As I run through the forest something knocks me down. I gasp and when I open my eyes I see the same wolf like thing on top of me. It tries to bite my head, but I move my hand to stop it and it bites my wrist instead. I groan as its teeth sink into my wrist. As quickly as I can, I thrust my sword into its neck. The wolf falls on top of me and I push it off. My left wrist is bleeding badly, but I don't pay attention to it. I stand up and I notice I'm surrounded by about half a dozen wolfs and they all come at me at the same time. I slash and decapitate one of them and I cut another one's arm. I notice I can't take them all so I run through them and escape as fast as I can. I can hear them following me, so I don't stop. Finally I hear like an electric sound behind me and I see a force field keeping the wolves away from me.

I breathe heavily, damn that was hard. I keep running, while faster I get out of here the better. I feel the heat of the arena raising and I wonder if it's part of a new trap or attack. While I think about what it might be as I keep running I see a spark to my left and before I know it the place is burning. All around me there are bright flames; destroying the trees and making the ground look black and lifeless. I freeze in place. I can't move. My legs don't answer to my command. And I just stand there.

Kyle. My mother. My father. I see them all in the flames, been consumed by it. Dying. This is not a trick from the game makers and I know it. I'm the one creating this images and I can't stand to see them. My legs finally respond and I run, trying to evade all the destruction the fire is creating. As I run, I see it all again. _It is Kyle. But he's half burned, his clothes are almost destroyed and his skin is black and red, but his face is the worst, his hair is burned and half of his face is black. You can see his entire eyeball and part of the bones on his cheek. He's not going to make it and it is my fault. Tears stream down my face as I make my way to his side. I kneel beside him and take his hand as my tears fall to the ground. _I resist the urge to cry as I see just as clearly as the day it happened how one of the best friends I ever had dies in my arms.

Then I see that train, just how the Capitol taped it for playing it on the news, the train where my father was, riding peacefully and suddenly exploding. Some people are able to escape, but my father isn't one of them. He dies, consumed by the flames. Burned. There wasn't even anything to bury, he became ashes just like my mom.

My mom... I see something as I run, something in my head, like a flashback that I didn't even know existed.

_I'm crying. I don't know what's going on, and everything is confusing. The heat is indescribable and it's hard for me to recognize the place. However, after a second I notice I'm in the abandoned house where I used to go when I was sad. I'm in a small room, there are wood toys and drawings scatter on the floor. I'm in a bed, with a small rail, the ones kids use not to fall off of beds when they're little._

''_Get Nike!'' I hear my mom's voice saying urgently and coughing. Then my dad runs in, covered in dust and grim. He smiles when he sees me and he picks me up. _

''_C'mon buddy, we need to go'' he says. He starts running, there's fire everywhere, I feel hot especially in my left ankle, for some reason._

_My dad runs to the front yard of the house, still carrying in me and he sets me down in the grass, coughing. ''Stay here, Nike'' he says looking at my eyes and holding me by the shoulders ''I'll get mommy, I'll be right back''._

_He stands up and runs back to the house. He's just a few feet away when suddenly something inside explodes. Fire comes out of the windows and parts of the house falls down. My dad is blown backwards, but he's quickly back on his feet. I see his face. He's crying, I've never seen my dad cry before. ''No...'' he says as he falls to his knees and simply cries._

That's it. That's how my mother died. My first house burning, my dad crying as it burns and little me, not understanding everything yet, but knowing something terrible happened. I'm already out of the track. I'm shivering, even after the heat of all the fire around me. ''Thank you'' Plutarch Heavensbee's voice says ''You can get going''.

I didn't even remember that I was still in my private session. I nod and walk to the door, leaving the sword somewhere as I walk there. I go to my quarters as fast as I can. Nobody tries to stop me, or ask me how it went and that's fine for me. I sit on my bed and take my head in my hands, trying to calm down as best as I could. It takes me a while, about half an hour. When I'm finally a bit better I take off my left shoe and sock. I see it, a light brown mark on my ankle. I always thought it was a birth mark, but it's not. It is a scar, made by fire, the same fire that killed my mother. I have a strange feeling , one that for some reason I can't tell what it is.

I lay on my bed for a few hours, toying with my mother's ring. My dad gave me this ring 7 years ago, right before I left for my games. I was supposed to give it back to him, but I never could. It's a good thing I have it, it helps me remember my dad and my mom and why I'm still fighting.

Johanna walks in beaming after a while. ''Hey!'' I say trying to sound enthusiastic and not confused and shocked like I actually am ''How did it go?''

''Great!'' she says ''I destroyed so many things I doubt there's anything the others can work with''

I laugh ''I'm glad you had fun''

''What about you?'' she says and I know my expression changed because she adds concern in her voice ''What happened? And what's up with your hand?" she says noticing the blood on my wrist that I didn't bother to clean.

''I... Nothing major...'' I say, but she doesn't seem to believe me ''Fine... I-I went to, to the obstacle track, a-and there was this... fire, and...''

The door opens cutting me off midsentence ''Guys, the scores'' Blight says and closes the door again.

I jump to my feet, ready to avoid the talking and I clean the wound as best as I cans and cover it before joining Blight for the scores. Tributes from 1 and 2 get scores over 8, the rest, except for Finnick who got a 10, have scores below 6. Then they show a snapshot of me. I look good in the picture. I'm smiling and you can see my white teeth, there are crinkles by my eyes and I look like everything is alright, my messy blonde hair actually looks decent and my eyes are a very bright green. I have no idea why I'm thinking about this... Then they show my scores and I smile when I see I got a 10. Then it's Johanna's turn and she gets an 11. I wonder how brutal she was to get the almost higher score there is, Johanna looks extremely proud of herself. The rest of the scores are pretty mediocre, except for Katniss and Peeta which both of them got a 12.

''Wow'' I say when is see their scores ''What do you think they did to get those scores?'' I ask Johanna.

''I'll say they did something rebellious'' she says.

''How come?'' I ask.

''Well, the Capitol obviously wants us to believe they're a threat'' she explains ''They want us to get rid of them''

''I guess that makes sense'' I say.

Blight yawns and stands up ''I'm going to sleep, big day tomorrow'' he says sarcastically ''Yoo-hoo, good night''

That leaves me and Johanna alone. We're quite for a while. Johanna is the first to break the silence. ''What happened on your session, Nike?''

I sigh ''I was in the obstacle track'' I start ''There was fire everywhere. I started to see things. People. I had flashbacks and memories and I-I...''

''What, Nike?'' she says placing her hand on my knee in a reassuring way.

''I think...'' I say ''I think I'm afraid of fire"

**It's 2am, but I finished! I'm so proud of myself... I liked this chapter, it was cool to write and it was very long, that's always good. I hope you enjoyed it and please review :D.**


	10. Interviews

**Hey! Thanks to all the people who reviewed, sorry I didn't write the names, but I'm way too tired… I'm sorry I didn't update last week, I completely forgot to say that I was going to Miami for a few days last week, and I wouldn't have my laptop. But, to compensate, this chapter is pretty long. I hope you like it!**

**Interviews:**

I have a headache the next morning. I think it was from the lack of sleeping. I stayed up late and the little time I actually slept was filled with nightmares. All of them had to do with fire. Burning faces of people I loved, people dying, myself consumed by fire. I shiver just to think about fire. I go to breakfast and I see Blight and Xarxes there, but Johanna is probably still asleep.

''Nike'' Xarxes says when he sees me ''I heard you got a 10, nice job''

Is he trying to be nice? That's weird… ''Yeah, thanks'' I say sitting down and filling my plate with food.

''What are you doing up?'' Blight says ''You can sleep in, you know? You probably need to rest after spending all night up with Johanna'' he says and winks.

I didn't do anything like that with Johanna, but I can still feel myself blushing pretty hard. ''You what?!'' Xarxes asks me standing up and looking angry. I can't help but smile a little mockingly remembering his super crush on Johanna.

''Relax, Xarxes. We were just talking'' I say and he seems to relax a little.

We were really just talking. After I told her about my newly found fear of fire she was pretty shocked. I understand her; it is a little amazing for me too, to suddenly be so afraid of something as simple as fire. It's weird; all my life I had never had an actual fear. Of course, I was afraid every once in a while, but if you asked me what was I scared of I could have never given you a proper answer. Now I can and I don't like it. Anyway, I told her about everything I saw, Kyle, my dad's train exploding and that flashback of my old house burning down while my mom was still in it. We ended up talking all night, just like we did back in the district. It was nice.

''Good, keep practicing those excuses about Johanna, Nike'' Blight says smiling and getting me out of my trance ''Today is the interview, you have to be ready to deny whatever Caesar asks you about that subject''

I groan. Every single time I'm on an interview with Caesar he asks me about my relationship status with Johanna and every time I say the same thing. I wonder why doesn't he just ask Johanna about it and leaves me alone. My theory is that he's a little afraid of her. I can't say I blame him, I'm luckily not afraid of her but she can be pretty scary.

Blight chuckles ''Don't worry, kid'' he says ''You don't have to do anything until the night, consider it a free day to think about ways of avoiding Caesar awkward questions.''

I laugh ''Okay, Blight'' I say ''And stop calling me kid, I'm almost 22 years old''

''You're still like 20 years younger than me, kid'' he says ''Get used to it''

The day goes by fairly quickly. I spent most of my time with Johanna, talking, joking around, doing impressions of people, laughing at the ways I'll have to tell Caesar that we're not dating and she telling me to act as in love as I could while on the stage (no problem with that). These interviews are seriously going to be hilarious.

Now I'm with Perc getting ready for the interview. Over the years Perc really changed his style with me, before he used to dress me up very informal, but now he's much more serious about my look and you can clearly see it. I'm wearing a suit, all black, black shoes, pants, jacket and shirt, except for the tie which has diagonal stripes with different shades of grey. I look very classy actually and I like it. Perc then shuffles my hair to add an informal look to the outfit. I think Perc realized long ago that it is not worth it to fight with my hair.

I still have to wait for what seems like an eternity for Johanna to come so that we can go together to the interviews. ''Girls take forever to get ready!'' I complain to Blight and he just laughs, though when she's finally here the wait becomes completely worth it. She looks gorgeous. She's wearing a bright red dress with the top cut low and on one side there's an opening that lets one of her legs show. Her hair is carefully braided with a couple loose strands of hair falling elegantly by the sides of her face. She's wearing slight makeup on her face and the only way I'm able to tell is because of the very obvious tone of her lipstick, which is cherry red.

Johanna has to say my name about 4 times before I notice she's trying to talk to me. ''Huh?...Um, sorry, I mean… what?'' I say trying to sound casual and smiling nervously.

She laughs ''I left little Nikey speechless!'' she says happily and pinching one of my cheeks.

''You always leave me speechless…'' I mutter under my breath.

''What did you say?''

''Nothing, nothing, just that, you are beautiful'' I say smiling and then I notice what I said and quickly add ''Tonight. You look beautiful tonight''

She's smiling widely and she places a hand on my chest, which makes me catch my breath ''Thank you, Nikey'' she says and she sounds so innocent. Like when I first met her and she was just a little girl. It's sweet.

I smile, blushing a little bit and I hold my arm out for her. She takes it, which probably makes me blush even more, and we head to the place where the interviews take place. There are cameras everywhere, the crowd is huge, way bigger than during my games and most of the old victors are sitting in their respective chairs and talking among each other rather loudly. I sit besides the female from district 8 and Johanna on the other side. Johanna lets go of my arm, I'm pretty sure I failed at hiding my disappointment.

The interviews start. A waiter passes champagne and wine during the interviews. They shouldn't do that, I'll be drunk by the time it's my turn. Cashmere and Gloss are interesting, and I guess I would've said the same about Brutus and Enobaria if I weren't terrified of them. Wiress and Beetee are… weird, I can't understand much of what Wiress says and Beetee always stops talking mid sentence. I laugh during Finnick's interview. He read a poem to his one true love, I don't laugh because of that, of course, I laugh because all the Capitol women think it's them when it is obviously Annie. During the rest of the interviews I focus on my drinking, although I do admit, I loved having a reason to stare at Johanna during her interviews.

Johanna sits beside me again and they call my name. I'm about to stand and Johanna stops me, she fixes my tie and says quietly so I'm the only one who hears her ''Remember'' she says ''You're crazily in love with me'' then she kisses my cheek and I stand up. I smile, not blushing (surprisingly). Wow, three kisses in three days, I think as I walk up the stage and the crowd cheers loudly. Caesar shakes my hand enthusiastically and we sit down waiting for the crowd to calm down. I guess I shouldn't be proud that it takes them so long to do so, but I am.

''Nike'' Caesar starts all serious ''Should I get you something to clean the lipstick off of your cheek?''

I laugh along with the crowd. I probably have the reddest lip mark ever on my cheek. ''It's okay, Caesar'' I say ''I like it, it reminds me of what lips were there'' I say and then I wink at Johanna. Johanna's reaction is perfect. She smiles like she's embarrassed and she looks up at me smiling. The crowd cheers and Caesar laughs smiling.

''Very nice, Nike, very nice'' he says ''Now lets' talk about your opening ceremonies. I want to know, what exactly was going on through your mind? Who's idea was it to throw the branches at the crowd?''

''It was my idea actually'' I say ''No offense to Perc, but that suit wasn't really his best work so Johanna and I decided to do something fun and ridiculous, instead of just standing there''

''You seemed to be having a wonderful time''

''I _was_ having a wonderful time!'' I say ''You have no idea how fun it is to throw something as mundane as branches to a crowd, most of all when they're dying to catch them. I swear, if I had branches here and you and I threw them at the crowd, you would have a blast''

''Still, I bet if you wanted to throw branches with someone,'' he starts to say ''you would most definitely prefer to do it with your district partner while holding hands''

''That's not a fair comparison, Caesar'' I say smiling ''I will always prefer holding hands with a beautiful girl''

That causes the crowd to cheer again. ''Now, Nike'' he says ''What's up with you two? Are you guys an item? Are you dating?''

''No, Caesar'' I say shaking my head ''We're not dating, nor we have feelings for each other. You ask me all the time, seriously it's getting annoying''

''Well, I was the first person to have the theory of you and Johanna as a couple'' he says ''I also want to be the first to get a straight answer from you, if, or better, when you start dating''

''That's actually not true'' I say ''You weren't the first''

''Seriously?'' he says looking hurt ''then who was it?''

''My dad'' I say smiling sadly at the memory ''About 12 years ago''

''Then tell us! What did your father said?''

''Okay. About a month after I met Johanna,'' I start to say ''I had my tenth birthday. I wasn't rich and honestly I didn't have many friends either, so for that birthday I only invited Jo to my house, to do you know kids stuff, playing tag, running around and stuff like that. My dad was actually pretty cool while she was there, he didn't ask awkward questions or anything. After Jo left, I remember he came to my room to say good night and he told me Johanna was very pretty. I agreed with him, because I've always considered Jo beautiful, and then he asked me if she was my girlfriend or whether I liked her. I was so embarrassed! Then before leaving he said exactly this 'You may not see it yet, but you'll like her as much more as a friend once you're older'''

I smile. Dad was right. He always was. I miss him so much it literally hurts. I'm pretty sure Caesar can see the discomfort and the sadness in my eyes because he breaks the awkward silence that forms ''So he was a wise man then!'' he says and I smile sadly ''But, changing the subject. This is a serious question, what do you think about this turn of events? The quell, and going back to the arena, what's your opinion on all that?''

I press my finger to my chin, thinking about how to answer this question. ''I… I don't like this'' I finally settle for a simple straight answer.

''How so?''

''I mean,'' I explain ''That I don't like this. We're going to die there, you know? And you know, if _I_ die, then really that's no big deal'' The crowd starts to complain and shout encouraging things to me and I wave my hand dismissively ''Seriously, it's not! Aside for Jo, I have no family. Nobody would really miss me, but here in the crowd of victors, there are so many people who would be missed, who the world would just be incomplete without them. So many people who'll probably lose their lives, when they already proved they deserve to live''

There's silence after that and it is not broken until the buzzer sounds, signaling my turn is over. I walk back to my seat and I sit by Johanna. She doesn't say anything to me and we watch the rest of the interviews. None of them are really interesting except when Katniss makes her way up the stage. I gasp along with the other people. She looks amazing; she's wearing her wedding dress. That has to be the cruelest thing the Capitol has ever done.

''She looks gorgeous!'' Johanna says beside me ''Look at the details in the… Sorry, you probably don't care'' she says stopping herself.

''No, no'' I say ''Keep talking, she does look gorgeous, with the elaborated details in her v-neck and the flowery patterns on her waistband''

''You do listen to me when I talk about fashion…'' she says looking surprised.

''Of course I listen'' I say ''I may not always understand, but I always listen''

''That was so sweet, I'm not even going to point out how cheesy it was'' she says and then she takes my hand. I feel an electric shock spreading through my fingers and I love it.

Katniss stands up because of something she or Caesar said, I don't know I wasn't listening. And she spins. I gasp again, because her dress burns until she's completely different. She's a Mockingjay. ''That was… awesome'' I say and Johanna nods. Katniss's interview ends and it's Peeta's turn.

Peeta is great at this. He makes a good team with Caesar and he's very funny and charming. When he's asked about all of his feelings with the quell and his wedding he tells us about the shocking revelation that Katniss and him are already married. Well, I did not see that coming. He moves the crowd, makes them feel his sadness and making them hate this quell almost as much as we do. Then he drops another bomb, Katniss is pregnant. I almost laugh. Peeta is a genius.

The crowd is mad. They're yelling and cursing at everything and Caesar can't get the control back, not even after Peeta's interview is over. Peeta and Katniss link hands, Peeta is crying. Everything is just hard to understand, it's too much, too fast. I'm the first victor to stand up. A lot of others quickly follow. I hold Johanna's hand when she stands and I squeeze it as tightly as I can. We all start to link hands. A sign of rebellion. A sign that we don't approve of this.

I lost my hold of the female from 8 once the peacekeepers start dragging us to our quarters, but I hold onto Johanna as hard as I can, afraid of what might happen if I let go. We are back in our quarters in no time. I walk her to her room, still hand in hand. When we're there I stop by the door to look at her.

''So, good night?'' I say, not sure of what to say.

''No'' she says looking at me in the eye ''Please, don't. Can you… can you just be with me tonight?''

''With you?'' I say taking her hand again and kissing it lightly, which makes my lips burn in an awesome way ''Always''

**I hope you liked it! I'm sooooo tired right now, I think I may die… It's like 2am here, where I live. I hope that doesn't affect the writing. Please review :D.**


	11. The quell

**Thanks to FireBreadandSnares, CraazyCresta and valentinamenende for reviewing. I hop you all like this chapter :D.**

**The quell:**

I already changed into the clothes I'll wear for the games. The outfit is a fitted, blue jumpsuit made with a sheer material half an inch thick with zippers down the front. I also have a purple belt and my shoes are nylon boots with rubber soles. Perc hasn't talked to me much since he gave me the outfit, really I don't mind, still he's sitting on the other side of the table looking nervous and anxious. It almost makes me laugh, I know he cares about me quite a lot, but I'm not nervous so why should he? It's surprising, even for me, but I'm seriously not nervous at all. Not after last night. It was one of the best nights of my lives, it was just the perfect way of showing me that volunteering was the smartest thing I've ever done, and that Johanna is worth every sacrifice I made.

_After Johanna led me to her room we have a fight, a rather silly one I may add, because I don't want her to sleep in her underwear when I'm right beside her in the bed. She yells at me because __**I**__ sleep in my underwear. We finally settle that she will sleep with my shirt on. My shirt it's too big for her and it looks like a very short dress with excessively long sleeves. Half of me is happy she agreed to wear the shirt; the other half is wondering how the heck she can look so breathtakingly beautiful with an oversized dress shirt on._

_I don't know how the topic changed, but before I knew it I was chasing her all over the room while laughing cheerfully. She's fast and she's quite good at jumping over beds and chairs so it takes me a long time to catch her, but when I do, I carry her on my shoulder like a bag of flour while she kicks and punches me while telling me to put her down, laughing the whole time. I do as she says and I throw her to the bed. She shrieks and then starts laughing hysterically. I lay on the bed beside her, laughing too. I smile at her and we look at each other for a while, without saying anything. I've spent so much time simply staring at her that she can no longer hide things from me, so I can see it. She might look cheerful and happy, but she's scared. ''I know you're scared'' I say._

_She stops smiling ''I-I'm not... I'm not scared'' she says unconvincingly while faking a brave smile._

''_You don't have to act brave with me, you know'' I say and I move a strand of hair away from her face, before setting my hand on her cheek._

''_How can you even tell?'' she asks me, dropping the acting brave thing. She moves closer to me and moves the hand I have on her cheek and sets it on the bed, playing with my fingers one by one, before taking it and looking at me._

_I smile ''Because, I've known you for what feels like forever and I'm your best friend'' I say ''It's my job to notice when something's wrong and help you in any possible way. Besides, I know everything about you''_

''_You don't know everything about me''_

''_Umm, yes I do'' I say smugly, happy to see that at least I distracted her from the fear ''I know lots of things about you that you don't even know I know''_

''_Oh, really?'' she says raising an eyebrow ''Like what?''_

''_Maybe, that you're full name is Johanna Muriel Mason''_

_She looks shocked and a little embarrassed ''How the hell did you know that?''_

''_It was written in the back of some pictures of you'' I say shrugging ''Seriously, worst middle name ever''_

''_Shut up,'' she says ''It's not like yours is amazing either''_

''_My middle name is Festus'' I say offended ''It means happy, seriously what's cooler than that?''_

''_Anything?'' she says poking me and laughing._

''_Even Muriel?''_

_We spend hours talking about random things about each other, turns out she knows I dream about her, turns out I talk in my sleep, I know she's afraid of spiders, she knows I wetted the bed until I was 6, we surely do know each other better than anyone._

''_I know that…'' Johanna says thinking about something else she knows about me ''that, your favorite color is maroon, though I don't know why''_

''_Yeah, it's kind of sad'' I say ''Whenever I try to picture my mom, the only clear memory I have of her is she standing in a field or a clearing, I don't know, wearing a bandana, a maroon bandana. I don't know why that's what struck me the most, it could've been her green eyes, or the white shirt, but that bandana kind of well, you know''_

''_I do know'' she says ''Do you know what my favorite color is?''_

''_Green'' I say without any kind of hesitation ''I guess it is because of the woods back home''_

''_It isn't because of the woods''_

''_Really? Then why is it your favorite color?''_

''_I just like it, that's it'' she says not meeting my eyes and I could almost swear she's blushing. I wonder why her favorite color is green, but I don't ask, maybe it has something to do with her brother or her dad. We are quite after that. She moves closer to me until she rests her head in my chest and I stroke her hair. I'm happy like this. I wish we could just stay like this, so comfortable and happy. I wish we didn't have to worry about the games, or the rebellion, or anything of that kind._

''_We should sleep'' she says and her voice sounds tired._

''_Yeah, we should'' I say and I kiss the top of her head ''Are you still afraid?''_

''_Not as long as I'm with you''_

I smile to myself. I was so happy I didn't even mind when Xarxes walked in on us the next morning and yelled at us angrily. I sit there with the goofiest smile ever plastered on my face, until a pleasant female voice tells me to step on my platform. ''So, this is it'' I tell Perc while standing up ''Thanks for everything Perc, you were a good friend''

''Will I ever see you again?'' Perc says sadly.

I answer as truthfully as I can ''I don't know, Perc. But honestly, chances are you won't''

''I understand'' he says, clearly keeping himself from crying ''Well, then… Goodbye, Nike'' he says and hugs me tightly. I step on the platform and wait to be taken into the arena.

I wait for what seems like forever, but I know it was just a few seconds, until I'm lower into the arena. It smells like sea, that's the first thing I notice. The platforms are surrounded by water. Salt water. All the platforms are surrounding the Cornucopia, which is glistening in the sunlight, filled with weapons. Only weapons, no equipment or food, just a lot of deadly looking weapons. All surrounding the lake we are in there are woods, but these are different than the ones back home, these seem more humid and none of the trees look alike. Jungle.

I scan the others platforms until my eyes find Johanna's. I point at her and then at Wiress. Johanna nods. Then I point at myself and Beetee and to a random direction into the woods. She gets what I mean, get Wiress there, I'll go there with Beetee. Then I look at the Cornucopia. Beetee told me he needed to get something from it, he didn't specify what it was, but it is important, so if he's going to be part of the blood bath, then I'll have to be part of it too.

I need to get Beetee and help him swim to the Cornucopia, after that we'll have to fight. Beetee is directly to my right. I'll swim there first. I prepare myself to jump into the water. 10 seconds left. I wait patiently and the gong sounds. Immediately I jump into the water and swim as fast as I can to Beetee's platform, I feel lighter and I swim faster than I'd normally would. ''Beetee!'' I yell when I'm there ''Jump! I'll catch you!''. Beetee jumps and hangs on my neck. I yell over the noise for him to paddle with his arm and kick. He does and it makes the job a lot easier, but we're still going slow and there are other people already in the Cornucopia.

We get there and I climb first. I'm about to turn around to help Beetee, when someone knocks me down. Enobaria. She's about to bite my face, but I hit her with my elbow knocking her off of me. I stand up quickly and I run as fast as I can towards the weapons. I pick 2 knives the size of my forearm ready to fight. Something catches my eye. I have a gut feeling that something is about to go terribly wrong. I turn around and I see Katniss pointing an arrow directly at my heart. Seriously?! Katniss is going to kill me?! I sidestep, but it's too late. I groan as the arrow sinks deeply into my left shoulder and my eyes fill with tears. I take the arrow and pull it out of my shoulder. Katniss switched target, thank God. I look around me and I find Brutus standing above Beetee, about to kill him with a knife. Beetee is holding a wire, that's probably what he needed. I hit Beetee in the jaw with my left hand, the metal one and he falls backwards.

''C'mon! We gotta get out of here!'' I shout taking Beetee's hand and helping him stand up.

Woof runs towards us, a spear in his hand. He tries to kill me with it, but I catch his hand and throw him to the ground. I feel bad for hitting an old man, but I have no choice. I take Beetee's arm and drag him to the water. The water immediately turns red, my shoulder moves when I try to swim. Still, I never stop, I keep going as fast as I can, to the same direction I told Johanna we should go to. I arrive there, feeling already exhausted, even though the games started about 10 minutes ago. Johanna comes from behind a tree, quickly followed by Wiress. Johanna helps me take Beetee out of the water. He has a wound in his leg, but as far as I can tell it isn't too serious.

Johanna and I walk deeper into the woods as fast as we can, not stopping to check wounds or any equipment we got, just trying to get away from the bloodbath. We stop finally, because of me. Now that the adrenaline is not cursing through my veins anymore, my shoulder hurts almost as much as when Dante destroyed my hand.

''Nike?'' Johanna asks ''Are you alright? What happened to your shoulder?! Why didn't you say anything?! It's bleeding a lot'' she says kneeling on front of me taking one of the knifes and tearing the suit apart to look at the wound. It's not big, but it's very deep, I'm pretty sure it the arrow tear the flesh on my shoulder apart. She cleans the wound as best as she can without water and then covers the wound with some leaves.

''Thank you'' I say standing up, wincing slightly. ''C'mon, we should keep-''

''Nike, look out!'' Beetee says. And right in front of me, it's the first mutt I'm going to face since I was 14.

**I hope you liked this, please leave a review and tell me what you think. I'm so tired right now, it's almost 3am where I live… I really have to stop writing so late. Oh, and since I probably won't get back on that subject, ever, who can tell me why Johanna's favorite color is green? Whoever gets it right will have a sneak peek of the next chapter :). And, before I forget, you should all check a story called Immortal by lori-la-strange. It's about Maysilee Donner's experience in the games, it's truly awesome :)**


	12. The first kind of mutt

**For the first time in my entire life I wrote a chapter early! It's so nice to write something without feeling like I might pass out at any moment… Thanks for the reviews I got, they were really nice :D. I hope you all enjoy this!**

**The first kind of mutt:**

I'm scared to death as soon as I see what's ahead of me, barely 10 feet away. It's a little hard to describe, as almost every mutt. It looks kind of like a person, except it is really big, 9 feet tall at least, it is extremely muscular and it is completely green. Its eyes are completely black, its nose is smashed and its lower teeth jut out of its mouth. It's wearing armor, made out of what seems to be metal and it's holding what looks like a very big baseball bat. If that's not scary enough, it is staring directly at me.

''Nike Midas'' It says, its voice deep and raspy.

''Johanna Mason'' Another one says to our left.

''Beetee Salvatore''

''Wiress DaFirenze''

They come from all over the place, saying our names creepily. I count 8 in total, but there could be more. I hand one of my knives to Johanna, she gladly takes it ''I'll protect Beetee'' I say. And with that I run towards the first mutt as fast as my legs allow me to. I jump and sink the blade deep into its neck before it even notices what's going on. The blade is stained with a brown liquid that I assume is its blood. The mutt falls to the ground, groaning and holding onto its neck. At least they're not very strong, but there are more than I thought. Many more keep coming out of the trees, and I mean directly out of the trees, as if they were melting out of the tree bark. Creepy.

''We need to get out of here!'' Johanna says and I can see 3 dead bodies in front of her.

''Fine, on the count of three we run, take Wiress with you!'' I shout. I turn around and look for Beetee. Where the hell is he? That's when one of the huge baseball bats hits me on the back and sends me flying about 15 feet through the air and crashing against a tree. Despite some pain in my back, extreme dizziness and black spots in my vision I don't think that hit hurt me that much. Beetee helps me stand up. My vision clears a bit and I see Johanna struggling while fighting against many mutts.

''Beetee, take Wiress and run as far away as possible'' I say quickly and he nods ''Try to find somewhere safe and we'll join you when we can''

Beetee runs, or rather limps, towards Wiress who is trying to keep the mutts at bay with one of the bats the mutts had, I run towards Johanna and I stand behind the mutt she's fighting and I slash its knee making it drop to the ground and then I thrust my knife into its back, killing it almost instantly. ''Hi'' I say smiling at Johanna. She's about to answer, probably some sarcastic retort, when I notice a mutt behind her. It stretches its huge hand and it's about to hit her, or grab her, I don't know. I instinctively push her out of the way.

I can't see where she lands, or whether I hurt her by pushing her, because the mutt takes me by the neck and lifts me up. I can't breathe. It presses me against a tree and squeezes my neck even harder. I kick and struggle against it, but it is too damn strong. Then it raises its huge fist. It punches me. I don't register the pain at first, and then it comes with full strength. I taste blood and my vision is really blurry. Still, I can make out something, the mutt raising its fist again. I close my eyes, expecting the hit. Except, it never comes, instead the grip on my neck loosens until the mutt drops me. I groan when I hit the ground and I open my eyes. My vision is still blurry, but I can see Johanna. She's killing the mutt that had me. She looks angry. I stand up. I stop seeing blurry, but now I can hear a high pitched noise in one of my ears, my head is pounding and I'm very aware of the huge amount of blood sliding down the right side of my face.

''Johanna!'' I yell, my voice sounds very hoarse ''We gotta get out of here!''

I kill mutt after mutt trying to make my way up to her. I'm dizzy and I'm blinking quite a lot, but I need to get to Johanna. I finally get to where she is and we're back against back facing all the mutts, which seem to be reproducing by the second. ''Are you alright?'' she asks me above the noise.

''I'll live'' I say as I kick a mutt to my right and kill one in front of me ''We really need to get out of here!''

''Yeah, but…'' she starts to say, but stops to kill a mutt to her left ''How?''

''I don't know'' I say ''We can just run, or I'll distract them and you get out of here''

''No'' she says ''I'm not leaving you. We'll get out of here together''

Even in this horrible situation, that really, it could be used for a TV show about the apocalypses, I can't help but feel warmth all over my chest. ''Fine'' I say and I take a step back so I'm even closer to her ''We'll get out of here together''. I take her hand and she squeezes it. ''C'mon'' I say ''We'll run in the count of three. One, two, three!''

I take her with me as I run to the general direction where I think Beetee and Wiress went. I push mutts out of the way and I kill some, but it is mostly just running. I keep checking behind me to see how many mutts are following us and to make sure Johanna is alright. We keep running, for a pretty long time. My back is hurting quite a lot for some reason and so is my shoulder, besides I feel dizzy and I'm running out of breath. Johanna is probably hurt as well and she's tired too. This is not good, not good at all. After a while the worst happens, I trip with something, a branch or a rock, and I bring Johanna down with me. I look up; the mutts are closing on us fast. There's no time to run away, besides we're too tired to escape again.

I do the only thing I find logical at the moment. I throw myself on top of Johanna to shield her if one of those things attacks us. I wait for something bad to happen; instead I hear an electrical buzz to the direction the mutts were coming. I look up, there's a force field! Thank God! I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and then I smile at Johanna, who's also smiling.

''That was the scariest thing ever'' she says ''You sure you're ok? You're bleeding a lot'' she asks me and lifts her hand to clean some of the blood off my face.

I wince unconsciously as she accidentally touches a bruise the mutt made. I fake a smile, hiding the pain that is coming to me with full force ''I'm fine, don't worry'' I say. That's when I realize I'm still on top of her and our faces are less than 2 inches away from each other. I stand up and I offer her my hand. She takes it and stands up. ''What about you?'' I ask ''You didn't get hurt, did you?''

''A mutt bit one of my legs'' she says and I notice her suit is ripped on her left leg and it's covered in blood ''Aside from that, I'm fine''

''You sure?'' I ask her ''I can check it if you want, make sure it's nothing major''

''Maybe later'' she says ''We need to find Beetee and Wiress, where did you tell them to go?''

''I don't know. I told them to get as far away as possible'' I say shrugging ''I guess that wasn't very smart on my part…''

''No kidding, Sherlock'' she says rolling her eyes ''C'mon, we need to find them''

''Can't we rest for a bit?'' I ask like a child ''I'm tired!''

She laughs and shakes her head ''No, we need to find them, they may be in danger'' she says and takes my hand making me walk behind her.

So we walk, for a very long time. We find no track of Beetee or Wiress. It's getting really late, it's turning dark, and the temperature is decreasing, but worst of all I don't think I've ever been more thirsty in my entire life. We don't stop until we hear Panem's anthem ringing through the arena.

''Oh, the deaths'' I say ''I completely forgot, did you hear any cannons?''

''No'' she answers ''I guess we were distracted by the mutts''

We look up to the sky. The first person to appear is the male from district 5 and then the male from 6. Then there's Cecelia and I can't help but feel bad for her 3 children back in district 8. Woof is also killed and I'm pretty sure it's because I knocked him down in the bloodbath. Both from 9 died and the female from 10. The last person to appear on the sky is Seeder. I remember how she used to give me chocolate and how she always smiled at me.

''Ok, that was way more painful than I thought it would be…'' I say ''At least we know Finnick, Katniss and Peeta are alright''

''yeah, the girl that shoot you is alright'' she says sarcastically ''Yippy''

''Are you mad about that?''

''No''

''Yes, you are!'' I say smiling ''That is so cute!''

''Shut up'' she says shooting me a look that really makes me shut my mouth ''We still need to find Beetee and Wiress, we should keep going''

''We haven't eaten or drunk anything since the Capitol'' I say ''We should find food, or at least water''

''Right'' she says ''Did you see any water while we were running?''

''No'' I say ''Now that I think about it, I only saw water during the bloodbath, but that was salt water''

''Great'' she says ''We'll search for water as we look for Nuts and Volts''

I sigh ''Sure'' I say ''I'm tired of looking for them, where the hell are they? I hope they're alright''

''I don't know if alright'' a voice that I recognize very well says ''But they're right here''

Johanna and I turn to see Brutus and Enobaria. Brutus is holding Beetee by the neck and his leg is bleeding. Enobaria is holding Wiress, she looks unhurt, but her eyes are glassy and it looks like if she's thinking about something out of the arena, she's zooming out. Brutus is smiling at us.

''They made a perfect decoy for you guys'' he says.

''Let them go'' I say ''Fight us instead, or are you too scared?''

He laughs ''You shouldn't act so tough, kid, I saw your games'' he says ''But alright, let's see how the little lumber kids from district 7 fight!''

**Ok, that's it for tonight! This chapter was a bit hard to write, but… Oh, well, I think it turned out all right. Now, another question to win a sneak peek of next chapter! Who can tell me from where I got the idea of using the last names DaFirenze and Salvatore for Beetee and Wiress? You'll never get it ;). Please leave a review and tell what are your thoughts so far on the story!**


	13. Second kind of mutt

**Thanks to all the people who reviewed, I hope you like this :)**

**The **_**second**_** kind of mutt:**

Brutus throws Beetee to the side and raises his weapon, a metal mace with multiple spikes on it, and looks at Enobaria smiling ''which one do you want?'' he says pointing at us with his mace.

''Umm, I want Nike'' she says after a moment of hesitation, then she throws Wiress to the side just like Brutus did and faster than I would've thought possible she runs directly to me. She shoves me. Under normal circumstances I wouldn't have cared about Enobaria shoving me, but she pressed her hand right on the spot where Katniss shot me and I fall down grasping my shoulder. She raises her hand and does a quick movement and I see a knife coming out of her sleeve. I hit her with my elbow and I stand up, grabbing my knife.

She smiles and I think my knees buckle just by seeing her horrible shark teeth smiling right at me. She runs at me again and slashes her knife. I dodge, duck, block and do everything I can to avoid been cut, but she's incredibly fast and I don't know how much longer I can keep on with this. ''Getting tired, sweetie?'' she says. My God, she is way too creepy. I get distracted and she uses that moment to slash right to my face. I realize at the last second and take a quick step back, but I'm not fast enough and her knife cuts my lower lip deeply.

I groan and put my hand to my lip, which is bleeding a lot. I guess I should be used to the flavor of blood, but I still find it horrible. She laughs and it is seriously the creepiest thing ever. I stand straighter and I look at her, trying to look more serious and intimidating. ''No more games'' I say pointing at her with my knife. I run to her and I slash, but at her legs, because I know she would probably be expecting me to attack her in a more lethal spot. She's prepared though, and she jumps avoiding the blade and slashes at me again, cutting me on the chest, not too deeply thankfully. I take her wrist and I kick her in the stomach. She stumbles backwards and looks at me more seriously ''You're not so bad after all, kid''

I don't know if I should take that as a compliment or not. She runs at me again and before I can stop her she presses her hand on my bad shoulder surprisingly hard and twists it behind my back in painful angle. I whimper, my voice a few octaves higher than usual, and she says ''But you're hurt, I'm not''. After finishing that sentence she sinks her blade in my shoulder, right where Katniss shot me. I scream, I drop my knife and my eyes water and out of complete desperation I reach behind me and take her wrist and I use all the strength I have to throw her over my head.

She looks surprised that I was able to turn things around. The horrible pain made me realize something; I was fighting Enobaria the wrong way. I was trying to compare myself with her reflexes and her speed, I can't do that, if I want to win I have to apply a technique I don't normally use. Brute force. I press my knee to her stomach to hold her in place, since I can't really move my left shoulder anymore. I'm reluctant to hit a woman at first, but then I just get over it and punch her as hard as I can straight on the face. I hit her twice more before she surprises me by using _another_ hidden knife and cutting deeply into my thigh. She takes advantage of my surprise by pushing me away. I fall to the ground, but I stand up again as fast as I can.

Her face is bleeding badly and she isn't smiling anymore. I don't give her time to recover or to attack me. I run and tackle her as hard as I can. She groans and spits blood, I pick her up by the collar of the suit with my right hand, since I can't move my left without feeling extreme pain and I throw her as far away as I can. She doesn't move afterwards, she might be trying to trick me, but I'm pretty sure she passed out. I breathe heavily and smile to myself. Then I hear someone scream. A girl. My eyes open wide. Johanna! I forgot about her. ''My God, my brain thinks of her every single second of the day, but when she's in danger it decides to forget about her'' I think to myself as I pick up my knife and run as fast as I can towards Johanna and Brutus.

Johanna is facing Brutus, her knife is lying on the floor a few feet away from her and her right arm is bleeding. He punches Johanna and she falls down. I run there. I'm suddenly angry, angrier than I've ever been before. Brutus holds his mace and lifts it up, about to hit Johanna with it, which is probably going to kill her. I run even faster and before he can bring down the mace I catch his wrist and twist it as hard as I can. He drops the mace and I punch him so hard my knuckles start bleeding afterwards. He punches me straight in the eye so hard I stumble backwards a few feet. I run back at him and I hit him in the stomach with my knee, then I hit his cheek with my elbow, I punch him twice in the face and then I push him hard against a tree and press my arm hard to his neck, keeping him from breathing.

''You hurt her'' I say. My voice sounds quieter and more murderous.

He struggles to breathe and he's kicking and trying to move me away, but I'm too angry to let him just take me down. His face is showing an emotion I recognize as the same one Clive had when I was about to kill him. Fear. I can't kill him. I promised myself, after Clive's death, that I would never kill a human being again and I'm sticking to that promise.

''If you touch her again'' I say ''I swear to God I will kill you''

I throw him to the ground and I step on his neck hard. He closes his eyes, but no canon goes off. He's just unconscious. I touch my shoulder and quickly move my hand back. Ok, touching shoulder-bad idea. I walk, well limp over to Johanna who's helping Beetee up with Wiress behind her.

''Are you okay?'' I ask her touching her arm softly and trying to get a better look of the wound she has. I'm surprised by just how week my voice sounds, considering how strong it was a moment ago.

''I'm fine'' she says moving her arm away ''can you help me carry Beetee? Or is your shoulder too bad?''

''It is bad'' I say ''But I'll help you anyway'' Then I proceed to lift Beetee with my right hand and using my right arm to support him. ''We should get as far away as we can''

''Agreed'' she says ''C'mon''

So we walk. We don't run because I don't think any of us, aside from Johanna, can. My shoulder is throbbing and it is bleeding a lot, but I know we can't afford a brake right now. Maybe we could if I had killed Brutus and Enobaria, but I didn't. I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing. Wiress is muttering ''Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock'' and after about an hour walking it gets really annoying. It's a little before midnight, I'm guessing, when I ask Johanna if we can stop. She agrees, which means I must look like a corpse. We sit down in a very small valley and I press my back against a tree. Wiress and Beetee sit down nearby in a slightly smaller tree.

''Beetee,'' I call out ''Are you hurt? Do you need us to check anything?''

''It's just my leg, Nike'' he says ''But don't worry, I'll be fine. You should worry about you''

I'm in so much pain all over my body that I don't even have the strength to argue about that. Johanna sits in front of me and just rips the suit off of me and helps me take off my shirt, so I'm only in the shorts I had underneath the suit, so she can see a few cuts Enobaria made on my chest and the horrible one on my shoulder, which spread the blood all over my arm and my chest, making it look probably worse than it already was. Johanna bites her lower lip and looks worried. She takes my shirt and uses it to clean the blood as best as she can. I wince every time she touches me and I have to clench my fists and bite my lips not to cry out in pain every once in a while. I see that Johanna stops and sighs every time I react like that, but I don't pay much attention to it. It's when she touches my shoulder that I do whimper and I raise my hand and put on her shoulder. ''Please, stop'' I say and my voice still sounds weak.

''I'm sorry'' she says looking down and not meeting my eyes.

''Jo?'' I say ''Are you… Are you crying?''

''No…'' she says, but I can see her rubbing her eyes. I can't believe she's crying because of me. I mean, yes I know Johanna acts way nicer and sweeter with me than with anybody else in, I don't know, the world, but I didn't know it could get to the point in which she cries because I'm in pain.

''I'm fine'' I say, trying to make my voice sound a little stronger, putting my hand on her chin and making her lift her head so she looks at me in the eye and I lean a little closer to her ''I'm alright, I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere. This is just a little cut, it doesn't even hurt that much'' I finish, obviously lying in the last bit.

''Just a little cut?'' she says looking less sad and a little more angry ''Prove it, move your arm''

I sigh ''Alright, I'm not fine'' I say ''My shoulder hurts so much, I can't remember any time I felt this much pain'' she looks pained ''But I _will_ be fine. I swear to God I will. I refuse to die until I'm an old man in district 7, with you. This'' I say pointing to the wound ''This will end up to be just another scar. I promise''

''Lately I haven't found a reason to believe your promises''

I smile at her and press my good hand on her cheek ''Just trust me, ok?'' I say and then I kiss her forehead.

''Ok'' she says with a small smile.

I let her finish cleaning my wound trying my best not to complain again and at last she rips my shirt and uses it as a bandage to cover my shoulder. ''So, am I going to be shirtless for what's left of the games?'' I ask her jokingly as she sits beside me.

''Yes'' she says and then winks.

I laugh ''You like that, don't you?'' I say and she laughs ''But I'd like this deal better if you took your shirt off for the rest of the games too''

''You know I'd do it'' she says smiling ''Don't try me''

I laugh ''You're right, then the others would see you shirtless, that should be just for me'' I say as I poke her in the stomach and she laughs. We're quiet for a while. I look at Beetee and Wiress. They both look fine, they're asleep, and Beetee's leg wound doesn't seem so bad. ''Who of us should take the first guard?''

''I'll do it'' she offers.

''Are you sure? We had a long day and-''

''Nike, stop been your super selfless, gentleman self for just a few hours and sleep. I'll wake you up in a few hours. Tomorrow we'll seek for water and food'' she says placing her hand on my knee and smiling reassuringly.

''Alright'' I say ''Good night, beautiful''

''How did you just call me?'' she asks, but I'm asleep before I can answer.

**I have bad news for you guys. Sadly, I am going on vacation tomorrow, so I'm going to spend about 2 weeks in Madrid and I'll probably won't be able to update until around January 10th. Sorry,still I hope you all liked this :)**


	14. Raining blood

**Heyy! I'm back, people! Thanks to the people who bothered on reading this and were nice enough to leave a review, I really appreciate it. I'm sorry this took a little longer than I expected, but I've been fighting against the writer's block for a really, really long time and this chapter was very hard to write. I started it at 10pm and I'm finishing it at 3am… Still, I hope you all like it!**

**Guest: Thank you for that great review! And you know, I've been thinking about doing that, but I'm still not sure. Maybe later on in the story I might do it ;).**

**Raining blood:**

I don't know for how long we've been walking, but I do know that I've never been more tired and thirsty in my entire life. We started our search for water in the morning, I don't know what time it is now, but the sun is just about to set. Someone died during the day, nothing else worth telling happened. We didn't run into another tribute or a monster, which is fine, I'm not complaining. Along the day we didn't spoke much. Johanna was annoyed to no end with Wiress, who kept saying tick-tock, tick-tock every once in a while. Beetee had a lot of trouble walking with the wound on his leg and back so around noon I started carrying him on my back. He isn't heavy at all, but the wound Enobaria made on my thigh stings with every step I take. That and sometimes Beetee takes a hold of my ears and it hurts… We are all thirsty. We haven't found water, not even a little of it. We found a thing that looked like a rat on the trees and we killed it, so at least we found something to eat, but not enough.

''Damn it!'' Johanna says after a while ''Is there like no water in this damned place?''

''There must be. They can't just let us die of thirst'' I say, carefully setting Beetee, who's asleep, on the floor with his back against a tree ''We just need to find it. C'mon, let's climb a tree and see from a higher perspective''

''Volts, you'd be okay without us for a few minutes?'' Johanna asks Wiress.

Wiress nods rather quickly and says ''Tick-tock, tick-tock''

Johanna sighs exasperated and I chuckle. I tell her to climb first since she's a lot faster than I am. We find a very tall tree that seems to be just a little taller than all the others, perfect for looking for water. So we climb. Climbing with a bad shoulder is extremely hard. There's a point in which I start climbing with only one hand. Johanna helps me out and it takes us twice as long as it would've normally taken us. Finally we find a branch that seems strong enough to support our weight. It isn't very long so me and Johanna have to sit really close to each other, not that I'm complaining or anything.

''Do you see any water?'' I ask.

''Nope, just the one near the cornucopia, but even that is really far away'' she says.

I sigh ''So what are we gonna do?'' I ask turning to look at her ''We both know we can survive until tomorrow in the best of cases''

''Yeah, I know'' she says ''But we can't do anything but keep looking, we can't be too far away''

I know for a fact that we _can _be too far away, but I decide not to tell her that.

''We should head down, in case something happens to Nuts and Volts'' she says trying to stand up, but one of her feet slips and she stumbles backwards. I immediately throw my arm behind her and catch her arm to keep her from falling. Or at least what I thought was her arm, but it is too… soft to be her arm. I let go of it immediately and I feel how the blush creeps on my face. Johanna isn't blushing, she's staring right ahead, with her eyes wide open.

I clear my throat after a moment of awkward silence ''Did I just grab your…'' I start to say, not meeting her eyes.

''Yes.'' She says quickly, cutting me off ''yes, you did''

''I am so, so, so sorry!'' I say ''I didn't mean to do that, it was an accident, you know I'm-''

''I know, Nike, I know'' she says with a small smile ''it was a mistake, I get it. Now can you please climb down before things get even more awkward?''

I nod, still blushing and I start to climb down. Climbing down is much faster than going up. We're both on the ground very soon and we find Beetee and Wiress sleeping on the ground. ''I guess this is it for today, then'' I tell Johanna when she reaches the ground.

She sees them sleeping and smiles ''Thank God! I'm exhausted'' she says and sits on the ground. I sit beside her.

''Maybe if you had woke me up, instead of keeping watch all night just so I could sleep…''

''Ugh, will you shut up already?'' she says annoyed ''If you want then I won't ever do something nice for you again…''

''That's not what I meant…'' I say ''I'm sorry, but I'll keep watch tonight, you can sleep as long as you want''

''Thank you, Nikey'' she says pinching my cheek and then laying her head on my shoulder ''Good night''

It takes her just a few minutes to fall asleep and I stare at her. I can't help but compare the two sides of Johanna. The one I saw in the Capitol, with makeup, a fancy dress, elaborated hairstyle, just gorgeous. And then there's this Johanna, bags under her eyes, cracked lips, slightly pale, dirty hair and dirty clothes. Just gorgeous. I can't picture myself without Johanna, no matter how she has to act or dress, I just think that she'll always be picture perfect. That's one of the sappiest things I've ever thought of in my entire life.

Hours pass and I do nothing but stare at the things around me. I fall asleep for a few hours, when I wake up it must be around 10am. Johanna, Beetee and Wiress are still asleep and I see no reason to wake them up. Then I hear a sound, like… drops. Then I realize. It's raining! Right ahead. I shake Johanna's shoulder carefully and she opens one eye lazily. ''What?'' she asks closing her eye again and burying her head on my chest to shield herself from the sunlight.

''Look at me'' I say and she raises her head lazily looking annoyed ''It's raining, right ahead''

''What?!'' she says suddenly really awake ''We have to go there!''

''I'll go first'' I say standing up ''Just in case there's some trap ahead, you wake Wiress and Beetee up and I'll call you if everything's alright''

She nods and I run to where the rain is. I feel a smile spreading and I lick my lips. It's when I closer when I get the first hint that something is wrong. The rain is too dark and thick. That can't be normal. I keep running there though, thinking only of how thirsty I am and not the danger that may be ahead. It's when I'm there that I notice. The drops hit me hard and it tastes too much like blood to be water. That's because it is blood. And the cloud of blood keeps expanding and it's going right to our camp.

I run back as fast as I can. I stumble over logs and rocks, but that doesn't stop me. I get there and I nearly knock over Johanna. ''Nike! What happened?'' she asks ''Why are you covered in blood?''

''It's blood!'' I shout and I'm pretty sure I most look like a crazy person ''It's blood! It's raining blood! And it's getting closer! We gotta get out of here!''

She understands what I'm trying to say. And she helps Wiress stand and I carry Beetee on my back again since he can't run. The rain is closing on us fast. We start running, not to any particular direction really, just trying to get away. The rain starts to fall on us. The floor is covered in blood and it slow us down, it make it harder for us to run, and the blood makes our clothes heavier. We're going really slowly and the rain makes it hard for us to even breathe. Our mouths fill with blood when we open them and we can't see anything because the blood falls upon our eyes.

I see on the corner of my eye, Wiress trying to keep up. Alone. Where's Johanna? I set Beetee on the floor as quickly as I can and I sign them to keep running and I head back. The blood is now falling so forcefully it hurts when it touches skin. I see Johanna soon enough, she didn't fall that much behind. She's on her knees, covered in blood and trying desperately to stand up, but the force of the rain doesn't allow her to. I run there. Johanna looks at me and she opens her mouth and shouts a single word ''Go!''. In that second she used to tell me that her mouth fills with blood and she throws up. I let her lean most of her weight on me and I lift her up. She runs with me back to where Beetee and Wiress were. She seems to be a little better and she's starting to overrun me.

Now I'm feeling sick. I'm losing my senses. I'm dizzy and my vision gets blurrier and blurrier. I see people. I think… I think that's Johanna, helping Beetee and Wiress keep on. I don't know. That was a guess. I can't see anything but colors anymore. I'm getting tired. I try to keep running, but it is too hard. And I start to slow down, not even realizing it. I take what I suppose is the branch of a tree to steady myself. I try not to lose my grip, because if I let go I'm afraid I'll fall and I won't be able to get up. I let out a short breath. The worst thing I could've done. My mouth fills with the blood. I spit it out, but the taste remains and I throw up the little bit of what I have eaten in the past few days.

The dizziness gets worse. I'm alone, I don't know where I'm going, I'm tired, I'm thirsty and I'm scared. I'm thinking that this is it; maybe this is how I die. I fall to my knees. I try to keep myself steady with my hands, but my shoulder hurts. I try to breathe, but even something so simple seems hard. I'm too weak to try to stand up again and even if I did, what good would that make? I finish falling, so I'm just laying there on the blood, getting hit by the drops that are still falling. I can't tell if there are more or less than before.

I try not to close my eyes. If I close them, then this is it. Even with my struggling, my lids start to get heavy. I stop fighting it. I _can't_ keep fighting it. I feel weak. I shouldn't be giving up. I'm fighting for so much, but I'm not strong enough for this. I'm just not. I'm weak. I'm a coward. I'm useless.

''Nike!''

Someone yells my name. I can't recognize who that is. I don't even try. ''_I'm sorry, I'm so sorry''_ I think right before my eyes close, maybe for the last time, and everything goes dark.

**I hope you liked it, please leave a review! I don't care if you want to tell me it sucks a lot, I just want to know what you all think of this :D.**


	15. Don't give up

**Hi! Thanks to FireBreadandSnares, dancer27 and Something Spiffy for reviewing! They were very appreciated. Also, thanks to AEP19 for following the story. I'm glad you liked it enough to add it to your story alerts.**

**Don't give up:**

''What the hell was that?''

I wake up to the sound of someone saying that. It's a very familiar voice, but I'm sure I haven't heard it in years. I don't think I'm in the arena anymore, because I don't feel pain anymore and I'm laying on something very soft. I open my eyes and I see a wood ceiling. I'm on a soft bed wearing only white cotton clothes. I look around and I see a man standing with his back against the wall.

''Dad?!'' I say, surprised, quickly switching to a sitting position.

It is definitely my dad. He looks a lot younger, though. He should be 44 now, but he looks about the same age as me. His brown hair is longer than I remember and his blue eyes are shining with determination. He also has his hand, the one he lost when I was 11.

''Yes, that's me. Patrick Midas, Nike Midas's father'' he says rolling his eyes ''But I'm pretty sure I asked you something, now answer me. What the hell was that?''

''Umm'' I say. I'm not really sure what you're supposed to tell your dead father when you see him ''I don't know what you mean… But answer me this, if you're really here, does that mean I'm dead?''

''Of course not. You'll wake up in a few hours, I'm just a product of your imagination'' he says exasperated, moving one of his hands dismissively.

''…Ok…'' I say ''Eh… What are you doing in my mind, then?''

''Trying to make you regret your past decisions and teaching you a life lesson'' he says checking his nails ''You know, the usual''

''Alright…'' I say. I'm very confused ''What life lesson exactly are you going to teach me?''

''You gave up'' he says simply ''You were in a rough situation and you just decided you couldn't do it anymore''

''What?!'' I ask ''You mean what just happened? With the blood? I didn't gave up! I was dying! What the hell was I supposed to do?''

''Keep running!'' he says ''You volunteered to protect her, didn't you? How can you protect her if you keep getting hurt and you keep making stupid mistakes?''

''I'm doing everything to keep her safe!'' I shout standing up and glaring at my dad ''You hear me? EVERYTHING!''

''Well you should be doing a better job!'' he says. Since when is my father so annoyingly obnoxious? ''She had to come back with Finnick to drag you out of there! You could've been smarter and hide in a cave, which you ran pass many, or hold onto the trees and tried to keep moving! You just hit a rough path and give up on life? I didn't raise you like that!''

''Well maybe you did!'' I shout ''After you lost your hand you didn't do a thing to keep going! You stopped doing everything! I was eleven! Eleven! I was a freaking kid when I had to start taking care of you! You gave up on your life too!''

''But I didn't give up on you!'' he is now the one shouting ''I kept raising you! I taught you to be strong, to be brave, to be kind, and to be honest! And you know why I did that? Because I loved you! And I loved your mom! And she asked me to keep you safe! You two were the most important things in my life! I'm sorry if I gave up on myself, but I didn't give up on you or your mom! And you shouldn't give up on Johanna either!''

I sit down and I hold my head in my hands. He's right. Of course he is, he taught me everything. And I did gave up, now I feel like hopeless loser, like a coward. ''Dad… I just… I don't know how to do it. I don't know how to keep fighting anymore. I'm tired, I'm hurt and I miss you and mom so bad…'' I say as my eyes water ''I'm trying. I'm trying to forget the pain, to just keep going for the sake of Panem… But I can't''

''Nike…'' he starts to say as he sits beside me on the bed ''What's your biggest strength?''

''What does that have to do with anything?'' I ask wiping my tears.

''Just answer''

''I don't know, sword fighting I guess'' I answer.

''That's not true. Your biggest strength is that something that makes you keep fighting, even when all feels lost. You're thinking yours is Panem, but it isn't, it's Johanna. You love her, don't you?'' he asks me.

I slowly nod my head. ''I knew it!'' he says ''I've known since you brought her home on your tenth birthday. The thing is Nike, she can be the reason you keep fighting, but she can also make you give up on everything''

''I don't get it'' I say.

''Nike, love is giving someone the power to destroy you, but trusting them not to. The thing is, sometimes, they can destroy you by mistake'' he explains ''If she dies, what would you do?''

''I…I couldn't…'' I start to say, but my mind fills with grief and pain. The thought of her… Dead. It's way too much for me to even think about it ''I couldn't keep going. If she dies that would be it for me''

''You see? She's your Achilles' heel as well as your biggest strength'' he says ''Keep her safe and always have her in mind and you can do anything''

''How did you keep going after…'' I ask her ''After mom… after she passed away?''

''Simple, I had you'' he says shuffling my hair and making me smile. ''I miss having these father/son talks with you''

''I miss it too, dad'' I say ''You sure this is all my imagination?''

''I don't know, maybe'' he says shrugging ''But what I do know is that I'm proud of you and I know you won't give up again. I love you''

''Dad? Before you go...'' I say ''Am I hers?''

''What do you mean?''

''Am I her Achilles' heel too?'' I ask.

''Are you trying to ask me if she loves you?'' he says raising an eyebrow. I guess my bright red face answered for me ''I don't know, Nike. You should ask her. But she cares about you a lot more than you think'' He winks at me and smiles one last time.

I wake up with a start. Then I groan because apparently I moved my shoulder a little more than I can. I move my hand to my shoulder and I feel the slightly rough fabric of fresh bandages. My thigh is covered in bandages too and there are a few band aids covering the bruises on my face. I'm not thirsty anymore, which must mean someone made me drink water while I was sleeping. My back is against a tree and ahead of me I see someone sitting on the ground. I figure it might be Johanna or maybe Finnick, since my dad mentioned something about Finnick. I walk over there after a little groaning while standing up. It's not Finnick or Johanna who's there, it's Katniss. Johanna is curled up and sleeping right beside her.

''Since Johanna or myself are not dead by now,'' I start to say ''I'm guessing we're allies now''

She sees me ''Hello, Nike'' she says nonchalantly ''I'm sorry about shooting you on the shoulder''

''It's okay, Enobaria was the one who did the most damage'' I say remembering quite clearly that knife.

''Why didn't you attack me?'' she asks me after a moment ''After I shoot you, I mean. I turned my back on you, you could've killed me''

The main reason is the rebellion, but I can't tell her that ''I can't kill you''

''What? But... Aren't, or weren't, we supposed to be enemies?'' she says ''We are in the games, I don't think you're supposed to be merciful here''

I chuckle ''Among the victors I'm called Mercyboy'' I say laughing ''That's because I'm the victor with less kills since the games started. You saw my games, right?'' she nods ''Well, you probably noticed I only killed Clive, the guy from 1. They added Dante to my list too, but I technically didn't kill him. I couldn't kill you not because I thought you deserved a chance, but because when I killed Clive I felt so much remorse, that I just decided never to kill again''

She stares at me with a thoughtful look ''It's weird. When I meet you or Finnick I thought you were the most obnoxious and uncaring people on the planet'' Thanks? ''I guess I was wrong, you're not so bad after all''

''We're all in the same situation here, you know? Besides, Finnick and I were kids when we were dragged into this. It's hard to be a heartless murderer when you're fourteen'' We are quiet afterwards, just staring ahead ''What happened while I was unconcious?'' I finally ask.

''Well, Finnick spotted Johanna walking to the shore covered in blood and carrying Beetee and Wiress'' she says ''Finnick went and talked to her and they almost immediately ran back to where they had cone from and they carried you here. You were almost dead, Finnick had to take the blood out of your lungs with a maneuver and Johanna took care of you''

''What do you mean she took care of me?'' I ask.

''She cleaned the blood of off you, cleaned and covered your wounds and spent like half an hour trying to get you to drink water'' she explains.

''Wow, that was really nice of her'' I say smiling slightly ''Where was the water anyway? We looked for it since the games started''

''Inside the trees'' she says ''We got a spile from our sponsors and we stuck it on a tree and we found all the water from there''

''That was pretty smart'' I say ''You would've thought Johanna and I would have noticed, considering we're from the lumber district and everything''

We are quite after that. I admit I stared at Johanna quite a lot during that silence. ''She's pissed with you'' Katniss says after a moment.

''Johanna? Why? What did I do now?'' I ask suddenly a bit worried.

''I didn't got most of what she said, but she said something along the lines of ''That idiot came back…'' and ''He keeps getting hurt…'''' Katniss says ''She told me she would probably slap you once you woke up''

''Well, that sucks'' I say ''For how long have you been keeping watch? You can sleep, if you want''

''No, thank you'' she says ''I'm not tired''

''Tick, tock, tick, tock'' Wiress says behind us.

''Seems like Wiress isn't tired either'' I say with a short laugh.

''Do you know what she means with ''tick, tock''?'' she asks me.

''No, I don't know'' I say ''She's been saying it since yesterday, I have no idea what it might mean''

She sighs ''Too bad'' she says ''Anyway, I'm going to figure it out''

''Good luck with that'' I say placing a hand on her shoulder ''Promise I'll be the first you'll wake up to tell what you came up with'' I say with my characteristic wink that I have reserved only for my interviews or public appearances in the Capitol.

She smiles ''I will'' she says ''You should sleep, you look horrible''

''I bet I look better than you with all those scabs all over your face'' I say ''But thanks, I will sleep for a while''

I lay down on the ground. I try to find a comfortable position, but it's hard because of all the leaves and the sunlight it's bothering me. I try not to pay attention to it and instead I hear how Katniss patiently tries to calm Wiress and make her fall asleep again. I also think about my dream or hallucination or vision or whatever I had with my dad while I was unconscious. He's right about most of the things he said and it was nice hearing and seeing him again after such a long time. Maybe passing out wasn't such a bad thing, considering that now I have an even clearer vision of why I can't give up and why I need to fight. I'm still fighting and I will fight until all of this is over. I fall asleep with all that in mind.

Someone shakes my shoulders what feels like a minute after, maybe it _was_ actually just a minute after, I open my eyes and I see Katniss. ''I figured it out'' she says.

''What?'' I ask her still a little asleep.

''I figured out what tick, tock means'' she says ''The arena is a clock''

**Not the best chapter I've ever written, but it's late and I'm tired so what the hell… I know there wasn't much action here, but I honestly couldn't think of an action filled scene for this chapter. Still, I really liked using Patrick again, since in No Matter What he did basically nothing and it was fun to show a more fun and unserious side of him, even if he was telling Nike something important. Anyway, I hope you all liked it and please review! And I'm sorry this chapter was a little bit shorter than usual :D. I reposted this chapter to add a few things, nothing mayor really, but I thought it was better this way.**


	16. Countdown

**Hey! Since I completely forgot on the last few chapters, happy New Year! I can't believe I remembered now… Anyway, thanks for the reviews, I hope you like this chapter. And before I forget, in last chapter there was a quote Patrick said that was along the lines of ''Love is giving someone the power to destroy you, but trusting them not to'', I just wanted to clear out that I didn't come up with that, I actually saw it on Criminal Minds. Anyway, I hope you like it.**

**Countdown:**

A clock. If I think about it for a second it makes sense, a lot of sense. ''Katniss, you're a genius!'' I say smiling. I help Katniss wake up the other –I must say that Johanna stayed true to her promise of slapping me- and we told them what Katniss had discovered. Katniss insists that we need to get out of here, that if we stay here we might be prey of whatever threat the game makers are planning. Johanna disagrees with Katniss' theory, but I'm certain she just wants to argue with her, but finally we all agree to move just in case something might happen. Personally, I don't want to meet with another super mutt or with another cloud of blood.

Katniss wakes Wiress and Beetee up while we prepare a few things for the walk. I walk over to Johanna and I offer her some water. She takes it without glancing at me ''Are you mad?'' I ask her carefully, as I pick up my knife and strap it to my belt.

''Yes'' she says, picking her own knife and looking at the blade, making sure it is sharp enough. It is, and I feel immature when the thought of running away from my armed best friend comes to mind.

''Do you mind telling me what I did?'' I ask her as we walk towards the others, who are discussing where we should go next.

''I don't know.'' She says, and her voice sounds restrained like she's trying not to shout ''Maybe, you passed out for _hours_ right in the middle of the arena, you gave no signs of been alive and if it weren't for Finnick maybe you would've died!''

''And what was I supposed to do?'' I say, getting angry myself ''Turn into some kind of superhero and magically absorb the blood and gain super powers with it?''

''You could have left me there!'' she says raising her voice a little ''You came back! Do you think that wasn't what made you faint? If you had just left me there you would've never fainted! And if you hadn't volunteered on the first place you would've never been in danger in the first place!''

''You're mad at me because I'm here? If I recall correctly, I've saved your life at least thrice since the quell started!'' I yell, not caring if the others hear ''You're basically mad at me, because I love you enough to risk my life for you?''

''Yes!'' she shouts too ''I'm mad at you because you're risking your life! You're too selfless! And… And I don't want you to die for me!''

''Since when is selfless a bad thing?''

''Just forget it'' she says. But I don't forget it. She didn't just mean with her. When she said self less… She was nagging me about something else too, not just protecting her. She turns her back to me and walks over to Beetee mentioning something about a wire. When I walk over there Johanna is glaring at Katniss. ''I guess I must've been distracted by keeping your little friends alive. While you were… what, again? Getting Mags killed off?''

''Johanna…'' I say shooting her a warning look.

Katniss squeezes her knife handle.

"Go ahead. Try it. I don't care if you are knocked up, I'll rip your throat out," says Johanna, ignoring me.

''Johanna, enough!'' I say and I'm surprised by how angry and strong my voice sounds.

''Shut up, Brainless'' she says, with almost as much strength as I did. Even as angry and annoyed I am at her I can't help but think that she hasn't called me Brainless in years, and how annoying it is.

Finnick says we should go to the Cornucopia, and from there check whether the clock theory was correct after all. We all agree and we start going. I'm in the back of the group, because of my leg I walk pretty slowly, and Katniss is beside me eyeing us all carefully. It takes me a few moments to realize what she's thinking, but I guess been around Johanna so much has made me good in catching the emotions on otherwise expressionless faces.

''You're thinking about how to kill us'' I tell her indifferently, like if I couldn't care less, which honestly I actually can't care less.

She looks away startled. ''Don't worry'' I say smiling ''I don't care, just an advice, don't go after Johanna, you might be good, but she's brutal''

''Are we seriously having this conversation?'' she asks me.

I laugh and I decide to drop the killing thing for now, but I need to make sure that she doesn't decide to kill us in our sleep before Beetee's master plan to destroy the force field that is supposedly around the arena. The cornucopia is deserted, except for the golden horn and a pile of weapons. I don't pay close attention to what they're saying; instead I head to the big pile of weapons, looking for a sword. It doesn't take me long to find one, my usual pick, silver, about 3 feet long and thin.

Johanna starts picking axes and she's looking like a kid on Christmas morning. She then throws one that sticks right into the Cornucopia a few inches away from my face. I don't flinch, Johanna might be mad at me, but she wouldn't kill me. And her aim is much too good for her to hit me accidentally.

I walk over to where Peeta is, squatted on the ground drawing on the floor. He's creating a map of the arena. ''From 7 to 8 Johanna and I had to face a monster called behemoth'' I tell him and he's quick to write it in his map, with clear handwriting.

''Look how the Cornucopia is positioned'' he tells Katniss when he sees her.

''The tail points towards twelve o'clock'' she says. They start talking about distinct dangers in every different area of the arena. I stop paying attention and I scan my surroundings instead. I've never been pretty good in paying attention for long to one sole thing, I'm very hyperactive. Before it used to annoy me to always need to have something to do, but now I realize that, that probably kept me alive in my games and in other situations. I look at something moving. It might've been the breeze or my imagination, but I don't want to take chances.

''Something moved'' I say warning the others. Then I notice something, Wiress was singing, she isn't anymore. We all turn and I see Gloss, holding Wiress, whose throat is slid open. Faster than I could've considered possible an arrow sinks through Gloss's temple and an axe hits Cashmere in the chest. Brutus throws a spear towards Peeta, but Finnick deflects it and is hit by a knife that Enobaria threw. A second spear goes to Johanna. I throw my sword towards it and it hits is, thankfully , stopping it in midair.

I feel anger, and I realize the other thing Johanna was nagging me about. _''If you touch her again'' I say ''I swear to God I will kill you''_ That's what I told Brutus, what she was nagging me about... My resistance to killing, even if it is necessary. I feel like it's time for me to drop my noble act, and kill. I run there fast, very fast, not even bothering to get the sword again. Enobaria is already swimming out of the little island where the Cornucopia is, but Brutus is not. Before he can make a dive for it, I punch him in the jaw, with my left hand. The metal one. Which by the way, hits significantly harder than a regular hand.

Brutus loses balance and turns to look at me. ''I told you I would kill you if you touched her'' I say gritting my teeth. He smiles and I dive for him, I guess he underestimated me, because I get plenty of good hits, but he takes me by the neck and lifts me up like if I were a rag doll. That's when the whole island moves, rapidly and violently. Brutus and I both fall to the water. He loosens his grip on my neck, but we're under water so it doesn't do me much good. I kick him in the stomach, still underwater and try to swim to the surface. He takes me by my wrist and pulls me down again. I hit his face with my elbow, over and over again, until the water turns crimson from his blood. His grip loosens and I swim to the surface.

I take deep breaths, but I'm still not done. I see Beetee swimming, just a few feet away from me, towards something, then there's Katniss, who dives to the water towards what I can only suppose is a body. I swim towards Beetee and I help him get a hold of my neck, like I did the first day of the quell. I swim back to the island, with Beetee holding onto my neck. I spit water and I help Beetee up. Finnick and Beetee have now lost their district partner. I feel a sudden closeness to Johanna, not just because she's my friend, but because we share a bond, just by coming from the same place. I walk towards her. ''Sorry?'' I whisper, smiling, just for her to hear. I remember when we were little, we had a huge fight, I don't remember what it was about, but I do remember that I apologized exactly as I'm doing now. She smiles and lets out a short laugh, probably remembering that same situation, and she wraps her arms around me. I hold her close to me, like if it were the last time, and maybe it is, and we stay quiet for a while.

''Let's get off this stinking island'' Johanna says finally, honestly to my displeasure, since I didn't feel like letting go of her just yet.

We have a small argument about where is 12 o'clock now that our guide, the cornucopia, moved to a completely different direction. We decide to just go to a random direction.

''I should have never mentioned the clock'' Katniss says bitterly ''Now they've taken that advantage away as well''

''Only temporarily'' Beetee says ''At ten, we'll see the wave again and be back on track''

''Yes, they can't redesign the whole arena'' Peeta says.

''It doesn't matter'' Johanna says impatiently ''You had to tell us or we never would have moved our camp in the first place, brainless''

I look at her suppressing a smile ''Brainless?'' I whisper in her ear ''I'm pretty sure that's how _our_ friendship started''

''Shut up'' she says, for the second time today.

We are walking when another cannon sounds. ''Who's that cannon for?'' Finnick asks.

''Brutus'' I say without looking at anyone in particular ''He _finally_ drowned''

''**You** _killed_ him?'' Johanna, Finnick and Beetee ask at the same time.

''Yes'' I say nodding. I remember how I felt when I killed Clive, I felt guilt, remorse, the idea that I deserved to die, that I was the lowest, dirtiest thing on the universe. Now, nothing. I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing. When we reach the jungle, we peer into it, trying to decipher what may be waiting inside.

"Well, it must be monkey hour. And I don't see any of them in there," says Peeta. "I'm going to try to tap a tree."

"No, it's my turn," says Finnick.

"I'll at least watch your back," Peeta says.

"Katniss can do that," says Johanna. "We need you to make another map. The other washed away." She yanks a large leaf off a tree and hands it to him.

I don't feel like helping out, so I just sit down on the ground and watch how Peeta begins to draw his map. ''Why did you kill him?'' Johanna asks me sitting down beside me ''I thought you had a no killing policy''

''He tried to kill you'' I say, like if it's the simplest thing ever ''Besides, you were right. I am too selfless, it's important that I stop that and that I just kill, we are at war, and we can't afford a noble idiot''

She purses her lips ''I still think you're way too selfless,'' she says ''But that's just a part of who you are and... It's cool. I'm not saying you should be a sissy again...'' she says and I raise an eyebrow at her ''But, you should still be that noble hero, who knows when to spare a life''

''I think I'm passing my sappiness to you'' I say with a smile.

''Good, because you had way too much sappiness in you''

Well, today was an interesting day, I think as I close my eyes for a second. I killed a person for the first time since I was 14, I fought with Johanna, I solved the problem with Johanna and we discovered the arena is a clock. ''Tick-tock, tick-tock'' I can almost hear Wiress saying that. It's almost like a countdown, a countdown to the next danger, to the next death.

**Please read and review! And an important question, I have been thinking for a pretty long time to do a few chapters in Johanna's point of view, but I'm not sure about that at all, so it's up to you. Would you like to see Johanna's POV? And you should all check out a story called My name is Nine by Peeta's stalker, is really, really good :) and she's a terrific writer, honestly you have to read it.**


	17. More real

**Thanks to FireBreadandSnares, dancer27, RJkimasako and Peeta's stalker for reviewing :D. About the Johanna POV thing, I think it's going to happen, but I'm not really sure when in the story, in a couple chapters at least. And I'm sorry about the delay, I didn't have time during the week and I feel asleep yesterday. Anyway I hope you like this.**

**More real:**

A scream surprises all of us. It sounds like Katniss' voice, but different somehow, like a smaller, shriller version of Katniss' voice. ''Prim'' Peeta mutters under his breath. I can recall Prim as a little blonde girl in some interviews, I think she's Katniss' sister or cousin, I'm not sure.

We're all in our feet at once. How can Prim possibly be here? And what are they doing to her? We run towards the sound and while we're at it another scream reaches us. This time I can recognize the voice. Johanna and I look at each other ''Annie'' we both say at the same time. We stop running. This doesn't make any sense.

''You mean that theyG're torturing Prim and Annie Cresta?'' Peeta asks us with a questioning look ''They can't do that, can they?''

''No, they definitely can't'' I say firmly ''They can't, right?''

''No!'' Johanna says and she's the only one that seems truly convinced by that ''I don't know what they're doing, but they can't torture Annie and Prim''

''Then what?'' Peeta asks ''Whatever they're doing it must be affecting Katniss and Finnick somehow, we have to do something''

''It could be a mutt'' Beetee says ''or a tape, or maybe something with the ability to recreate voices''

''Jabberjay!'' I say ''It must be another area of the clock, they're using Jabberjays to simulate their loved ones in pain!''

''What?!'' Peeta says ''Katniss will freak! We need to get there!'' he starts running again and Johanna and I follow hesitantly. Beetee stays behind, working in some kind of… umm, thing… I know Johanna is thinking the exact same thing as me. What would we hear if we were there? The people we love are all dead; it might be even cool to hear their voices again, even in those conditions.

I pass Peeta until I'm in the front guiding them. I think I'm really close to the Jabberjay area, when I crash against an invisible wall. I fall right back to the ground clutching my nose. ''Nike!'' Johanna says kneeling beside me ''What the hell?''

''I'm fine'' I say sarcastically, like if she had asked me if I was okay, cleaning the blood from under my nose ''There must be a wall there or something, I don't think we can get through''

Peeta is standing right by the invisible wall, his hand pressed against it. We hear another voice, this time a male's voice I don't recognize at all, screaming on plain agony and pain. Peeta keeps yelling Katniss' name, throwing things to the wall, trying desperately to get through.

''Peeta, stop'' I say after a while ''We can't get through.'' I place a hand on his shoulder and he looks at me, pain written all over his face. I recognize that look, because it is the exact same one I have whenever I see Johanna in pain. I don't know why, but that surprises me and I just let him stand there, looking through the wall, with that same look on his face. After just a few moments we see Katniss and Finnick running towards the wall at full speed, I try to warn them to stop, but they don't seem to hear me and they crash against the wall. Katniss and Finnick fall, but only Finnick seems hurt by that.

Peeta presses his hand on the surface and Katniss puts her hand to meet his. ''its okay, Katniss'' Peeta whispers softly ''I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere… I love you''.

More and more Jabberjays arrive. I hear many different voices, people who are related to Katniss and Finnick somehow, suffering. It's sickening even for me. I don't know how I can possibly hear them, when this wall is supposed to be sound proof, but it's horrible. Finnick sits on the ground and covers his ears, trying to block everything, just like Annie does. Katniss tries to kill the Jabberjay, but each time she kills one another appears, so she just gives up and lies on the ground beside Finnick.

Johanna and I decide to bring Beetee here. We ask Peeta of he wants to come, but he just shakes his head and looks at Katniss. I pat his shoulder ''She'll be fine, Peeta'' I say trying to reassure him ''I swear she will''. He doesn't answer so Johanna and I just walk away.

''Peeta is… extremely sweet'' I say ''I'm pretty sure seeing Katniss like that is hurting him as much as it's hurting Katniss to hear those voices''

''He's just like you'' she says quietly.

''Nah, I don't think so'' I say.

''Yes you are'' she says smiling at me ''You're both sweet, almost sickly cheesy, blonde, good looking…''

''Good looking, huh?'' I ask her raising an eyebrow and trying unsuccessfully to suppress a smile.

''You're an idiot'' she says punching my shoulder playfully.

_I love you. _That's exactly what crosses my mind. Why the hell can't I tell her? They're just three words. But I can't. Is it lame that I'm scared of telling her? The worst that could happen is that she doesn't feel the same, and I honestly think she does feel the same, but I'm afraid of all the things that might come next and all the things that could go wrong. Still, I have to do something, so I wrap my arm around her waist, pull her closer to me and kiss the top of her head. We walk like that for a while until we reach Beetee who is still playing with his wire.

Once we're back Peeta is still sitting in front of the invisible wall, staring at Katniss. ''You okay, buddy?'' I ask, sitting beside him.

''yeah, I'm fine'' he says ''is them I'm worried about''

''I think you mean _her_, not _them_''

He ignores that statement ''Has it been an hour yet? It feels like much longer''

''I don't know'' I say ''Don't worry, they'll be out soon.''

As if on cue the invisible wall disappears even more, if that's possible. Peeta stands up at once and he carefully picks her up and sits back down with her in his lap. I turn to Finnick and I help him stand up. He doesn't open his eyes and he's still covering his ears.

''It's okay Finn'' I tell him as he slowly opens his eyes.

"Katniss, Prim isn't dead. How could they kill Prim? We're almost down to the final eight of us. And what happens then?" We hear Peeta say once we get a bit closer to them.

"Seven more of us die," Katniss answers hopelessly.

"No, back home. What happens when they reach the final eight tributes in the Games?" He says lifting her chin so she has to look at him "What happens? At the final eight?"

"At the final eight?" she repeat. "They interview your family and friends back home."

"That's right," says Peeta. "They interview your family and friends. And can they do that if they've killed them all?"

"No?" She asks, still unsure.

"No. That's how we know Prim's alive. She'll be the first one they interview, won't she?" he asks.

"First Prim. Then your mother. Your cousin, Gale. Madge," he continues. "It was a trick, Katniss. A horrible one. But we're the only ones who can be hurt by it. We're the ones in the Games. Not them."

"You really believe that?" Katniss says.

"I really do," says Peeta. She looks over at Finnick for confirmation, see he's fixated on Peeta, his words.

"Do you believe it, Finnick?" She ask.

"It could be true. I don't know," he says. "Could they do that, Beetee? Take someone's regular voice and make it ..."

"Oh, yes. It's not even that difficult, Finnick. Our children learn a similar technique in school," says Beetee.

"Of course Peeta's right. The whole country adores Katniss's little sister. If they really killed her like this, they'd probably have an uprising on their hands," says Johanna flatly. "Don't want that, do they?" She throws back her head and shouts, "Whole country in rebellion? Wouldn't want anything like that!"

I laugh at Katniss' shocked face and I look at Johanna. Why is she so amazing? ''I'm getting water'' she says picking up some shells and heading towards the woods.

''Hang on, I'm coming with you'' I say standing up.

But Katniss catches her hand, stopping her from walking ''Don't go in there. The birds-'' she says, but she can't finish the sentence.

Johanna looks at me for a second. ''Don't worry, they can't hurt us'' I say.

''We are not like the rest of you. There's no one left we love'' Johanna finishes, freeing herself from Katniss' grasp with an impatient shake. ''C'mon, Nike''

We walk quietly through the woods. The birds are still there. At first they just stare at us, but then they start to scream as well. The first one I hear is me. I hear my own voice, screaming in pain and fear. Then I hear Johanna. It's ridiculous and horrible. I don't understand how this is affecting me, but it is. Johanna is right beside me, just walking, but whenever I hear her scream I just keep picturing her in pain. I want to get out of here. I feel like I should've heard Katniss and just stayed where I was. I can't help but imagine just how horrible this must've been for Katniss and Finnick.

We both stop dead in our tracks when I hear my own voice releasing a scream particularly loud, shrill and scary. ''Fuck it'' Johanna says, like if she were resigning to something. She then pushes me against a tree, rather harshly. I'm about to jokingly ask her if she's going to murder me, but I'm stopped by her lips pressing against mine.

I don't know anything anymore. I don't know what my name is, I don't know where I am, I don't know what I was doing just a second ago. The only thing I know is that Johanna is kissing me. Her hands started in the back of my neck, but she moves them slowly to my chest. I kiss her back, and carefully place my hands on her waist, pulling her closer. The kiss ends just as abruptly as it started, when Johanna takes a step back.

''I'm sorry'' she says, looking, for the first time since I've known her, truly embarrassed ''I-I just… I couldn't think of another way to make sure you were really here. That was stupid. I'm sorry''

I'm only half listening. The other half is staring at her wide eyed and gaping. I'm still processing things. Still thinking about what just happened and replaying the moment over and over in my head. Johanna literally has to pull me forward for me to start walking again. Johanna was right about something. That kiss was way too real. I know she's here, now the Jabberjays are just another sound, and not something that might get me nightmares. We get the water and we pick up the arrows that Katniss wasted while trying to kill the Jabberjays.

Nothing more happens when we get there. Someone died, and keeping count we notice that sixteen of us are already dead. There's just us, Enobaria and Chaff left. Peeta draws another map of the arena, adding the Jabberjays and the beast that killed the other tribute. We also get 24 rolls from district 3. I share a few with Johanna. Katniss and Peeta say that they'll take the first watch and I'm grateful, I'm really tired.

I lay down on the ground near Johanna, who's still awake, just looking ahead. ''You should really sleep'' I tell her ''You have slept like 5 hours since the beginning of the quell''

''I don't want to have nightmares'' she says simply.

''You've had nightmares?'' I ask her ''Why didn't you tell me?''

''I didn't want to worry you'' she says.

''That's sweet, but I'm here to help you with this kind of things'' I say ''Just sleep, I promise I'll fight off the nightmares if they come close to you''

''I'm starting to like your sappiness'' she says with a small smile ''Who knew that could happen?''

''Shut up, you know you love me'' I tell her, smiling ''Now, really you should sleep, we don't know if we'll be able to sleep later''

''Fine, goodnight Nikey'' she says, but before attempting to sleep she takes me hand and keeps it against the ground between us, her fingers intertwining with mine.

I blush, mainly because I'm remembering that kiss. I never pictured my first kiss with her like that. I always pictured it would be a little romantic, and soft, back in district 7. This was passionate and definitely not soft. Still, I keep replaying it. I remember her lips tasted like strawberries, I remember how surprisingly soft her lips were, and I remember losing my breath and feeling a warmth spreading throughout my whole body. My lips tingle just by thinking about it and all I want to do is kiss her again. And I do, on her forehead and whisper ''Good night, beautiful''. I can almost swear I see her smiling for a second.

**I'm done! Thanks God for that. I had a veryyyyyy long week and I didn't know if I was going to finish this in time. Still I hope you liked this and please leave a review :D.**


	18. The trap

**Thanks to FireBreadandSnares, Peeta's stalker, dancer27 and Something Spiffy for reviewing. It's 1am, and I think I'm going to pass out :)! Still, I hope there aren't many grammatical or spelling mistakes, and I hope you like this chapter, even if it's not really my best work.**

**The trap:**

When I wake up I have brief sense of safety and happiness. It's a strange feeling, mostly because of where I am. But I know the feeling is related to Johanna, sleeping with her head on my chest. I imagine how everything would be if she had died in her games. I would be completely alone now, maybe I wouldn't even be in the quell or the rebellion, and I'm certain that I would be defeated, I would have no real reason to live, I would be like a zombie. Dead, but still alive. Afterwards I imagine how it would be if_ I_ had died in _my_ games. Johanna's reaction would be different, she would stay strong, she would act brave and she wouldn't let anybody know she misses me, but she would still be alone. Johanna has always been stronger than me, she could go to a crowd and act like she doesn't care about my death, when in reality is killing her. I couldn't do that. I'm glad I don't have to.

I stay with her for a long time, but I hear the others, I know they're awake and working and I should be helping. I move Johanna as carefully as I can, trying my best not to wake her up, but she wakes up anyway. We both sit on the shore not really talking about anything. Not long after Katniss and Peeta wake up as we receive another delivery of bread from district 3, twenty four more rolls. That means we have thirty three rolls, so we each take five and leave three in reserve. Katniss takes Peeta's hand and takes him to the water, with the excuse of teaching how to swim.

''I bet they're talking about how to end this alliance'' I tell Johanna after watching them for a moment.

''Probably. They don't really know what's happening'' she says and then yawns ''I'm going to take a nap, wake me up if anything interesting happens''

''Sure, good night''

She lies down on the floor nearby a tree and I go and sit next to Finnick on a broken log. It's been a while since I talked with Finnick. ''Hey'' I say when I sit down ''Are you okay? I mean… After what happened yesterday?''

''Yeah, I'm fine'' he says shrugging ''Sometimes I wish she were here, but at the same time I don't want her to be here''

''I know what you mean'' I say ''You wanna be with her, but you don't want her to be in danger; it's perfectly understandable''

We are quiet for a while ''And… What's been going on with you and Johanna? You looked pretty cozy today'' he says winking and breaking the silence.

I blush ''Honestly, I don't know'' I say ''she kissed me yesterday''

''What?!'' he says wide eyed ''So, she kisses you and you're still not sure? Nike… Man, if you're not an item by now then you're in a friendzone so far unknown by mankind''

''I'm not in the friendzone, Finnick…''

''It seems like you are'' he says ''Haven't you been into her for like 4 years?''

''How the heck do you know?!'' I ask him tilting my head to a side questioningly ''I don't recall talking with you about that. Ever''

''Oh, yeah, I know. But a lot of us have been betting about when you'll get together'' he says ''I lost, I said you would get together during her victory tour, I was so wrong…''

''You're seriously betting about that?'' I say ''what's wrong with you?'' I ask, hitting him on the arm.

He laughs ''Well, of course. We bet about everything and you know it'' he says ''But seriously, you should do something''

''Like what?''

''Aw, I feel like a big brother giving advice to my little bro'' he says and he shuffles my hair as I roll my eyes ''You should be the one coming up with those things, Nikey, but I'd tell you to keep it simple, you know? Just go and tell her, she won't slap you''

''You sure about that? She has a strong hand'' I say remembering when she slapped me yesterday morning.

''Pretty sure. She was the one who took your hand yesterday, right?'' he says and winks again, elbowing me.

''Do you stalk me or something?''

''Yep pretty much'' he says smiling ''When I'm not looking at my beautiful reflection''

''It's not so beautiful right now'' I say looking at his ugly scabs.

''Shut up, I'm beautiful'' he says faking to be offended and I can't help but laugh.

''Hey, Finnick, come on in!'' Katniss calls from the beach ''We figured out how to make you pretty again!''

''Oh, good news for you!'' I say sarcastically ''Go, we'll talk later''

Finnick goes over there and I see them removing the scabs for a while. Then I look at Johanna. She looks so harmless when she's sleeping. That just goes to show how much looks can trick someone. Beetee calls us over, but I ignore him. I've heard the plan plenty of times. I'm sure Beetee discovered some very interesting stuff that I should know, but I don't really care. When I finally walk over there Beetee is talking about how the best way to take out the rest of the competition is setting up an electric trap around the beach. It's a pretty amazing plan really.

Finnick goes to wake Johanna up and once she's awake we sit on the ground listening to what Beetee has to say about his plan ''If you were Enobaria, and knowing what you know now about the jungle, where would you feel safest?'' he asks us, like if we were children in a classroom.

''Where we are now. On the beach'' Peeta says ''It's the safest place''

''So why aren't they on the beach?'' Beetee says.

''Because we're here'' Johanna says impatiently.

''Exactly. We're here claiming the beach. Now where would you go?'' Beetee asks.

"I'd hide just at the edge of the jungle. So I could escape if an attack came. And so I could spy on us." Katniss says after a moment.

"Also to eat," Finnick says. "The jungle's full of strange creatures and plants. But by watching us, I'd know the seafood's safe."

Beetee smiles at us as if we've exceeded his expectations. "Yes, good. You do see. Now here's what I propose: a twelve o'clock strike. What happens exactly at noon and at midnight?"

"The lightning bolt hits the tree," Katniss says.

"Yes. So what I'm suggesting is that after the bolt hits at noon, but before it hits at midnight, we run my wire from that tree all the way down into the saltwater, which is, of course, highly conductive. When the bolt strikes, the electricity will travel down the wire and into not only the water but also the surrounding beach, which will still be damp from the ten o'clock wave. Anyone in contact with those surfaces at that moment will be electrocuted," says Beetee.

Everyone seems extremely surprised. They're clearly not seeing how the plan could possibly work, but I do see it. I spent a few months in district 3, working with Beetee. That's when I was 16, but I still remember a lot of it and I remember when Beetee told me exactly how the wire worked.

''I see.'' I say ''So the current of electricity will travel along the wire, just before burning it. And we have more certainty that the electricity can travel through it considering that it isn't actually a normal wire, it has more resistance, right? Also, the tree is not natural, otherwise it would've burned because of the lighting a long time ago, that makes easier the contact with the lighting and the wire''

Everybody stares at me as if I'd just grown a third arm, except for Beetee who just smiles ''Well, well, Nike. You paid attention those months you were with me, didn't you?'' I just shrug in response.

''And where will we be when all this happens?'' Finnick asks.

"Far enough up in the jungle to be safe," Beetee replies.

"The Careers will be safe, too, then, unless they're in the vicinity of the water," I point out.

"That's right," says Beetee.

"But all the seafood will be cooked," says Peeta.

"Probably more than cooked," says Beetee. "We will most likely be eliminating that as a food source for good. But you found other edible things in the jungle, right, Katniss?"

"Yes. Nuts and rats," Katniss says. "And we have sponsors."

"Well, then. I don't see that as a problem," says Beetee. "But as we are allies and this will require all our efforts, the decision of whether or not to attempt it is up to you four."

''I'm up for it if you guys are'' I say shrugging again and closing my eyes for a second. I should've taken a nap along with Johanna, I'm exhausted. I hear them bickering for a while until they decide to just go for it with the plan and we start heading towards the lighting zone, since Beetee wanted to inspect the tree. Peeta, Finnick and I take turns carrying Beetee, while Johanna leads us along and Katniss walks behind, ready to take out any prey that may come closer. It takes us about an hour to arrive.

We divide chores, since I'm the only one who has any idea of what Beetee is doing I help him analyze the tree. I still remember much of what I did when I was sixteen, but I still learn a lot more about the force field, how they work and how the electric current, with the right work can completely dismantle it. Peeta gathers nuts, Finnick guards, Johanna taps a tree for water and Katniss hunts.

At 11 we hear an animal, some kind of insect, on the sector adjacent to us. We walk through lots of the different areas of the arena, while Beetee analyzes the ground, the trees and in the right time he sees the lighting. I don't know if I'm getting smarter, but I noticed irregularities in it. It's not natural and I can almost see how it can flood through the wire and carry all the energy. It must've been hard for Beetee to figure that out by himself. Around noon we go back to the 10 o'clock beach, where the sand is wet because of the wave.

Beetee lets us have the afternoon off, and I don't have the energy to learn more science with Beetee. We decide to have one last meal with sea food, so Finnick teaches Katniss and Peeta how to capture it while Johanna and I keep watch.

''Should we climb a tree to get a better perspective?'' I ask her.

''Sure'' she says ''But not very high, just enough to be able to see over them''

So we search for a tree, just a couple of feet away from the shore and we climb to one of the lowest branches, where we have a view of 20 feet around the area where we set camp.

''So, how's the trap going?'' she asks me.

''I think it's going pretty well.'' I say ''The wire is designed to let the energy travel through it and release it at a certain point, when it has all the energy it's able to hold, when the energy is released, this time as electricity it produces an effect on the surroundings. I believe that's called exothermic reaction''

''How do you this stuff?'' she asks me.

''I spent 3 months in district 3 five years ago'' I say ''Don't you remember?''

''Yes, but I never thought you were actually learning anything''

''There's absolutely nothing else to do at district 3, but study'' I say ''You have no idea how many times I wished you had been there to be able to talk to someone about anything but science''

''Still, it was worth it'' she says ''You sound kind of sexy when you talk so professionally''

I blush, but thankfully Finnick calls us to climb down to eat. The food is really amazing, except for the shrimps.''Ugh, I hate shrimps'' I say as I bite one and swallow it almost immediately, trying not to taste it.

''Really? Why?'' Peeta asks as he takes a few to his mouth.

''You know that drink they serve on Capitol parties that the Capitolites use to puke?'' I ask and they nod ''Let's just say that thanks to some shrimps, I didn't need it''

They laugh and it's nice. We might die while preparing this trap, Enobaria might be out there plotting my death specifically, but it's nice to know that we can still do something as simple as laugh. We eat until we can't take another bite of anything and then we get rid of the leftovers.

I lay down by the shore and look at the sky. I can just make out a few stars as they start to appear in the sky as it gets darker. I like stars. I remember my dad used to teach me the different constellations. I never learned them, but I liked to hear him talk about it. Johanna lays down with me and we stare together at the night sky.

''It's beautiful, isn't it?'' I tell her.

''I guess''

''We should enjoy this'' I say ''I think a lot could happen in a few hours, we don't really know if we'll live to…''

''Don't say that'' she says cutting me off midsentence ''You're not going to die and neither am I''

''We don't really know that, do we?'' I say simply. She doesn't answer, so I turn to look at her. She's hiding the concern, but I can still see it. I stretch my arm and take her hand, intertwining our fingers carefully. I smile at her ''Still, I think no matter what might happen tomorrow or later, we should just… enjoy these small moments together''

**Thanks for reading. If you liked this please read and review :D. **


	19. End with a bang

**Hey! Thanks to FireBreadandSnares and Peeta's stalker for reviewing :D. I watched Silver Lining Playbook yesterday and it was amazingly good. Jennifer Lawrence's acting in that movie makes her acting in the Hunger Games look horrible, she was just unbelievable! So yes, I'm a good mood :). I hope you enjoy this.**

**End with a bang:**

I don't know how long I just stay there, lying on the sand watching the stars. I'm having a bad feeling; something tells me it will be a long time before I can watch something as simple and beautiful as stars again. Katniss and Finnick are the ones who tell me we should get going. I don't want to get up, something bad will happen, I know it. Still, I don't really have much choice but to follow them. We quietly hike towards the tree in the lightning zone. Nobody really talks; maybe we are all having the same bad feeling, who knows?

Once we arrive Beetee asks Finnick to assist him. I'm glad he didn't ask me, I need to talk to Johanna, to go over the last part of the plan, and maybe to tell her that since she kissed me, I literally can't think of anything else. I call Johanna and we move a little farther away, where no one can hear us or see us.

''You ready for the last part?'' I ask her.

''As ready as I'll ever be'' she says ''We need to get the tracker out, right?''

I nod and I pull out my knife. I take her right arm and I slowly put the tip of the knife on her forearm ''Ready?'' I ask. She nods and I sink the knife into her arm. I hate myself for having to hurt her, thankfully I find the tracker soon enough and I take it out.

''Sorry'' I say, handing her a small piece of cloth for her to clean the wound with. She doesn't reply, instead she takes the knife from my hand and presses it in my forearm. She doesn't ask me whether I'm ready or not- I wasn't really expecting it either- and I feel a sharp pain as she sinks the knife. It takes her a lot longer than it took me, by the time she finally takes the tracker out there's blood running freely down my arm.

''I think I need more practice'' Johanna says sarcastically.

''You think?'' I ask her with the same tone and she sticks out her tongue like a little girl, which makes me smirk. ''Anyway, remember, you need to do this to Katniss, I'll handle Peeta and Finnick will take the tracker out of Beetee''

''I know Nike, we've been over this like a million times'' she says rolling her eyes.

''Still, we need to meet all here, so bring Katniss here, okay?''

She nods impatiently ''Fine, can we go now?''

''One more thing'' I say, taking a hold of her arm, stopping her from walking away. Then I slip off the little necklace that has been holding my mother's ring around my neck for seven years and I press the ring on her hand ''I want you to have the ring'' I say giving her a small smile ''You'll give it back to me when we meet after this''

She looks at the ring and then back at me ''Why?'' she asks.

''I don't know. I feel like… We might be apart for a while, and I want you to have something from me'' I say. She's still looking at the ring and we're quiet for a moment, until I get the courage to say something else ''And… well, while we're in that subject… There's something else I want to give you''

''What is it?'' she asks looking back up at me. It's when I look into her eyes, that I feel certain of what I'm about to do. This time I'm the one who pushes her against a tree and before she can ask what I'm doing I press my lips firmly to hers. A part of me was half expecting her to push me away, so I'm pleased when instead she moves one of her hands to my hair and pulls me even closer, while her other hand rests on my shoulder.

Nothing is comparable to this feeling. I feel the same thing as I did when she kissed me before, my heart is pounding, I can feel my cheeks getting hot and there's a warmth in my chest that makes me want more. Her lips feel so soft against mine, and for some reason they taste like strawberries. It's unbelievable.

''Guys! Beetee said he needed…'' We split immediately, to find a very red Peeta staring at us wide eyed ''Oh, wow… I'm sorry. Beetee said he needed to finish telling us the plan. I'm so sorry''

Peeta leaves as soon as he finishes the sentence. I look back at Johanna and after a second we start laughing. ''That was awkward'' I say still laughing.

''Definitely'' she says and smiles at me ''We should go'' she says and my smile turns sadder ''Don't worry Nikey, we can continue _this_ later'' she says and winks ''If you want to, of course'' She has no idea just how much I want to continue this. But when she says later, I know for a fact that it will a lot longer than she thinks.

We go back to where everybody is and Beetee has already set up the wire-most of it- in the large lightning tree. He says that because Johanna and Katniss are the fastest he wants them to carry the wire all the way to the twelve o'clock beach. They argue about arrangements, and how they will travel through if alone or with Peeta, who insists on going with them. Katniss convinces Peeta to stay here, thankfully, since that's part of the plan. Johanna and Katniss start running. I want to say goodbye, but I guess kissing her was the best I could do.

Beetee is preparing to try and throw a knife with a log, tied to a significantly smaller piece of the wire, that way he expects to see the chink of the armor in the force field. That way we'll destroy the force field and the people from district 13 will be able to come pick us up. Plan B is that if Beetee misses, someone else will get it and destroy the force field. It's much less probable, but it's the very best we could do.

As we wait for the moment of the lighting the wire tied to the tree suddenly loosens almost completely. I look at Peeta and Finnick. They're thinking the same thing as me, somebody cut the wire, and it was probably Enobaria, which means she may attack Katniss and Johanna any moment now.

Peeta's face is alarmed, and before any of us can stop him he takes his knife and starts running, faster than I would've thought possible considering he lost a leg. I follow him immediately. ''Peeta!'' I shout over and over again, but he just keeps running. He finally stops when a cannon fires. We're in a very small clearing and right there there's Enobaria, who has just killed Chaff. I feel a horrible sense of grief when I see Chaff, lying in a pool of his own blood, with his eyes wide open.

Peeta charges Enobaria. ''Peeta, stop!'' I yell, trying to stop him, but he doesn't listen and he tries to kill Enobaria with his knife. Enobaria deflects the knife and bites his wrist hard. Peeta shouts as Enobaria's shark teeth sink into his wrist. I run over there and I hit Enobaria in the face with my elbow, making her let go of off Peeta's arm.

Enobaria stands right back up. I'm ready to fight her again and when she comes near I tackle her and knock her to the ground. After wards I punch her in the face. It only took one hit for her to fall unconscious. I stand up again, breathing heavily.

Peeta takes his knife and he walks towards Enobaria, ready to deliver a killing blow. ''Peeta, don't'' I tell him.

''Why not?'' he asks looking at me angrily ''We're all going to die anyway, so why not kill her? Besides, she killed Chaff!''

''Don't do it, Peeta!'' I say again ''Have you ever killed for no good reason? If you have then you know the pain! The guilt and the grief!''

''Who cares?!'' Peeta yells ''This isn't a normal situation, we're in the hunger games!''

I can understand him, I really can. I felt the same way in my games. I let my games change me. I remember feeling like a monster, like I didn't deserve to live, if Peeta is anything like me, he will feel the same way. I can't let him deal with that. Peeta is going to kill her and he raises his arms, right about to let the knife go through her neck. I catch his hand before he delivers the blow and I pull him away.

I hold both of his arms behind his back and I move him a little farther each second. He struggles, he might be shorter than me, but his surprisingly strong. ''Peeta, stop!'' I tell him ''You don't want to kill her! You don't want to take revenge! That's not you! You can't let these games turn you into something you're not!'' That phrase seems to bring him back and he stops struggling.

''Let me go'' he says.

''I'm afraid I can't do that until I remove the tracker'' I tell him, pulling my knife out of my pocket.

''What?!'' Peeta asks ''What are you tal-'' he stops talking when I sink the knife into his forearm and I move it until I find the tracker and I pull it out. He screams at first, but when I pull out the knife he just stares at me wide eyed.

''I'm sorry, we had to do that'' I say, not having time for much explanation. Te sky tells me is around 11:30pm, maybe a little later and we need to be close to the lighting tree by 12 o'clock. ''C'mon, we need to get out of here. Now''

He's obedient; he follows me without another word, even though I can walk much faster than him. We're not anywhere near close, but I'm certain we can get there if we go fast enough. Peeta is falling behind and I constantly have to back to help him. I sank the knife too deeply into his arm and he's bleeding a lot, maybe I should've waited or something.

''Beetee!'' I hear a voice, a voice I faintly recognize as Katniss's calling. It's very far away, not a good sign for us, but it seems to give Peeta a boost. He starts going faster while yelling Katniss's name. Is Johanna with Katniss? I hope so, if she isn't maybe the people from 13 won't be able to rescue her.

''Peeta! I'm here, Peeta! I'm here, I'm here!'' I hear Katniss shouting, a little louder each time ''Peeta!''

Peeta starts running even faster than me as he tries to reach Katniss desperately. ''Katniss!'' he shouts one last time, but there's no reply. Instead everything seems to be somewhat quieter. That's until the lightning hits the tree. The dome the arena was made of bursts into a dazzling blue light. I fall down hard against the ground. My vision gets blurry. All I can think about is whether we made it or not. The explosions begin. They're many, and they're loud. I don't understand how none of the explosions seem to damage me, but maybe they are and I am just too stunned to notice.

I'm about to lose hope, I'm about to think nothing worked and that we're all going to die at the hands of the Capitol, when I see a hovercraft in the sky. Yes! That must be the one from 13, they're getting us out of here! I smile, ready to finally pass out.

**Yay! I'm done! And tired! I should definitely start writing these chapters earlier… Anyway, if you liked it leave a review, if you didn't like it leave a review too! HonTestly, I just want to know what you think :).**


	20. Separated

**Hellooo! I was really meaning to post this chapter on Sunday, but family problems, school work and social commitments got in the way. First of all thanks to dancer27 and Peeta's stalker for reviewing. Second, this is the last chapter of Still Fighting. This chapter will be a lot shorter than usual, but that's because I thought this could be a cool epilogue :D. I'll tell you guys everything else you should know on the Author Note below. I hope you like this, I gotta say, I really, really loved writing it.**

**Separated:**

**Johanna's POV**

I don't know how many times I've fallen back asleep right after waking up. Many, that's as much as I can say. I don't really remember where I was or what happened those times I woke up. Before falling unconscious though, _that_ I can completely remember. After taking the tracker out of Katniss's arm I called Enobaria and dragged her away from her. It wasn't easy, especially once I knew she wouldn't follow her. I saw Peeta, followed closely by Nike. I thought maybe I should help, or warn them to stay away from Enobaria, but I needed to find Katniss. I saw her after a while; she was stumbling through the woods, looking like a complete retard. She did well anyway, by blowing up the force field. I think the explosions were what knocked me out. Either way, I'm finally awake for good.

I stare at the ceiling for way too long. Longer than I should, but who cares? It's not like anyone is worried about me. It takes me a moment to realize that there's _actually_ someone who's worried. Nike. Sometimes I forget he's always there for me. It's been twelve years since I met him –almost thirteen- and it's still weird for me to know that he's _always_ there; weird, but kind of amazing. I don't like to admit it, but I depend a lot on Nike. He's the only person who I know I can count on for anything. Now I'm thinking as sappily as Nike, that's not good…

I finally stand up, against my will really, but I need to catch up on things. I know the plan worked, I know we escaped the arena, and I know I'm probably in district 13 right now, but I need to know what's next. Of course I know how the rebellion will go, but we mainly need Katniss and Peeta, I don't know if they both made it, or if they agreed to be a part of this. They better agree, or I'll be seriously pissed off. I'm wearing nothing but a thin nightgown, I would normally not mind, but I'm abnormally cold. I walk down a narrow hallway for a while. I'm surprised by how hard it is to walk, or at least to walk normally. After a couple minutes I hear voices down the hall. Once I get closer I recognize the first voice as Finnick's.

''Who's going to?'' he asks worriedly ''I'm not going to and that's for sure''

''So are you expecting _me_ to do it?'' The second voice, which I recognize as Blight's, his tone suggesting that whatever he had to do terrifies him ''I might die!''

''Do what?'' I ask entering the room they're in.

Both of them are visibly pale. After a second I notice both of them have red noses and red eyes, they have obviously been crying and very recently.

''What happened? Did the plan don't go as expected?'' I know the plan did go well. I know whatever happened is a lot more serious, but I don't want to accept the only thought that comes to my mind.

''Jo…'' Finnick starts to say.

''Don't call me that'' I say. I have always hated when people call me that, it makes me feel like a kid. I only allow Nike to call me 'Jo'.

''Fine,'' Finnick says ''Johanna, something happened… W-w-we weren't able to get everybody out of the arena.''

No, please God, no. No. No. No! NO! I don't want to hear this, I don't. I don't want this to be real, this _can't_ be real. It can't be. I haven't cried in almost five years, but now there's nothing else I want to do.

''Johanna'' Blight says placing his hand on my shoulder, as his eyes sparkle with tears ''Nike was taken hostage by the Capitol''

**Nike's POV**

I'm awake. I've been awake for around 2 hours, but I still haven't opened my eyes. At first it was because I couldn't. It was painful to even think about moving any part of my body. Now I don't open them because I'm hoping to just fall asleep again. I don't recall any moment of my life in which I was in as much pain as I am now. My muscles are sore, my head is pounding, every single wound I gained during the games is aching and I've never been this tired.

I'm sitting on an uncomfortable metal chair. It is cold and hard, and I realize I'm shirtless. I feel several small things pressed against my chest, stomach, arms and forehead. They aren't hurting me, but they're not a good sign either. Where am I? I finally find the will to open my eyes. My first thought is that maybe I didn't really open my eyes. The place I'm in is darker than any place I've ever been in, I'm sure that if I wave my hand in front of my face I wouldn't be able to see it.

Suddenly, an extremely bright white light starts shining throughout the whole room, shining from the ground, the walls and the ceiling. I close my eyes tightly and I intend to cover my eyes with my hand, but it is tied to the armrest. I blink a lot as I try to get accustomed to the light. When I finally do I notice there are chains around my wrists and my ankles keeping them tightly wrapped to the chair. The things that are pressed to my chest and arms are cables and tubes, connected to a big machine. I'm in a round room, there seem to be no doors or anything and as I said before every single wall iss emitting a bright white light.

I try to release my wrist from the chains, but it's no use. ''Hello?'' I call out ''I know I'm in the Capitol!'' My voice cracks when I say that, feeling slightly afraid ''What the fuck are you going to do to me?!''

There's a high pitched noise coming from what seems to be a speaker all around the room. ''If you answer our questions, you won't be harmed'' a monotone, dull voice says.

''I won't answer anything!''

The guy doesn't respond ''Who is taking part in this rebellion?''

''I don't know!'' I shout ''I don't know what you're talking about. Let me go!''

''Answer, or we'll have no choice but to torture you for answers'' the guy says, his voice sounding slightly more strong and demanding.

''I don't know what you're talking about!'' I shout again, this time with more confidence.

There's no reply. Instead the machine the cables are coming from comes to life. There's a small screen, where the number 0°C is clearly written in bright green letters. The numbers start to climb higher and higher until it reaches 800°C, this time written in red letters. That's when the pain starts, and it's more horrible than anything I've ever felt before.

**And this is where it ends! I'm very happy with this, I hope you think this chapter is as good as I think it is. I also loved writing in Johanna's POV, it was fun and different. I would like to give some acknowledgements to the people who reviewed all during this story. I'm aware I didn't get as many reviews as in NMW, but I'm still proud and I can't believe another story is over. So, anyway, I would like to thank…**

**Emmileeblue**

**Nb1998**

**FireBreadandSnares**

**Cutiemarie-chan**

**Hungergamesfreaklover**

**LolaDoe**

**Kattomas**

**Jay (Guest)**

**Something Spiffy**

**Divergentbirdkid**

**ThisAwesomeKid**

**CraazyCresta**

**Valentinamenende**

**Dancer27**

**RJkimisako**

**Peeta's stalker**

**Thank you all for reading and bothering to review, it made me happy :). Sadly I will take a couple of weeks off. I have a German exam called Sprachdiplom and I really need to focus on that, so I don't know when I'll start to write again, but it will be a month tops. Also, I'm guessing you all must have a slight idea of what will happen, so I'm begging you to give me ideas for the name of the next installment. I have nothing… Anyway, thanks for everything and please leave one last review to this story :D.**


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